988 Love
Just a reminder to be must be aware of all feelings, especially now: the bright and the shadows, the light and the dark and the very tenuous gray that can go either way. Check on those you think are strong, resilient, and functioning. Check on those whom you haven't connected with recently. Find a way to reach them, to balance them, to spend time with them. Here is a poem read recently authored by Leslé Honoré that might help someone.
It doesn't always look like darkness
Disheveled
Discombobulated
Sometimes it looks like dance
Like joy
Like syncopated rhythms
Like grace
Like choreography channeling
Ancestor's dreams
Powerful
Successful
Enviable
Sometimes we get so good
At the act
At the entertainment
At wearing the mask
That we can fool ourselves
A little bit
Long enough for the public
To believe
That we
Have it all together
That the airbrush portrait
Is real
The Instagram smile
Is permanent
The steps aren't automatic
That happiness 24/7 isn't toxic
But the truth is
Living is hard
Lonely is real
Grief is too heavy to hold
People don't check
On the strong friends
The smiling friends
The dancing friends
The friends who look like
They are on top of the world
Looks are often liars
Hopelessness can grow
Like weeds in the most beautiful
Garden
It doesn't always look like
Darkness
And it's so hard to say the words
Out loud
"I need help
This is too much
I don't want to try anymore"
Because we clap for stunning
Clap for the performance
And ignore those in pain
It doesn't always look like darkness
Sometimes it just looks like
Our reflection
In the Mirror
Sometimes it's just too hard
To stay in the light
If life feels like it is too much
to take one more step
let someone hold your hand while you walk
You aren't alone
You aren't the only one
I've had those thoughts too
You are not alone
I promise
National Suicide prevention life line 1-800-273-TALK
