Say What You Want to Say

What’s something you believe everyone should know.

Good prompt today! But I swear I’ve answered it before. Either that or one very similar to it. Because I’m pretty sure I wrote then, about the fact that everyone should know that people with mental illness are not to be feared or judged or in other ways stigmatized simply because of their diagnosis. It’s pretty much the main motivation for the book I’m writing. People need to know, not only what happened to me, but also that my mental illness diagnoses don’t make me who I am. They make it so that I live my life a little differently than others. Hello anxiety! But my generalized anxiety disorder doesn’t make me any less of a cool chick with tattoos who listens to really loud music.

Another thing that is equally important is that our voices deserve to be heard. And not only that, they need to be heard. It allows for connection to others. We can feel a lot less alone if we hear others and can relate to what they say. Yet another good reason for my book. I want people to “hear” my voice in what I write and know simply that they aren’t alone in their own thoughts and feelings. That’s important. Suffering through mental illness can feel very isolating. Suicide rates exist for a reason.

Bottom line…don’t be silent. If you have something to say, express it. Whether it’s actually saying it out loud or putting it out there in some other expressive way. Remember, the people who mind, don’t matter and the people who matter, don’t mind.

Want to help me get my book written faster? Buy me a coffee! One day I’ll be able to quit my job and devote my time to writing, until then…