I never in my wildest dreams thought I would become a blogger!  But here I am trying to navigate a new online world as so many are due to COVID.  Normally I would be out speaking about mental health and resilience and connecting with an audience in person, which I absolutely love to do.  I share my story not only to help others but also to lean in to the vulnerability (as author Brene Brown would say) which is mental illness.  But since that may not happen any time soon, here I am taking my words online!

People often ask me why I do things like this, why I put myself out there and tell such personal stories about trauma.  When I said I planned to do a blog there was a mixed reaction from folks across the board…everything from “that’s awesome” to “what the hell are you thinking?”.  So what am I thinking?  Simply stated, silence is deadly.  The more we talk about mental health, mental illness, and the stigma surrounding it, the more people can be helped.  We need to take this health issue out of the darkness and in to the light.  The advocate in me cannot rest as long as there are still people in pain, people being treated with indignity, and people dying by suicide.  While I cannot fix everyone, I can lend my voice and my words to the ever growing choir that is out there singing the songs of hope and recovery.  I truly believe there is always hope.

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You may be asking yourself, who is this gal and will reading this make any difference.  Truth is I am no one special and you may get nothing out of these writings, however my hope is that if even one person gains a glimmer of hope or knowledge from what I share then it will all be worth it.  So please join me in sharing and learning and growing together!

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