September: Suicide Prevention Month

My my my, these statistics are startling:

As I began my research for this month’s She Lifts Podcast series, I found these statistics hard to digest.  What is worse is the fact that this doesn’t truly capture all of the suicides in the US.  The stigma surrounding mental health and suicide (which are not always synonymous) typically deters people from reporting it.  There are families who cover up the cause of death if it resulted from suicide to uphold an appearance.

This has got to end.  We HAVE to talk about it.  Losing just one more person to suicide is one too many.  There are a ton of resources for people who are experiencing a rouhg time, no matter what the cause is.  Occassionally, the cause is clear — break up/divorce, assault or even loss of a job or loved one.  However, there a tons of other underlying reasons for suicide and suicidal thoughts and ideations including mental health disorders and certain medications.  There are trained professionals who are passionate about assisting to sift through the dust and help you find the answers.

One thing for sure – suicide is not the answer.

If you know someone who may be suicidal or who has even attempted suicide in the past, has a history of self-harm, is a danger to him/herself or others, or is simply experiencing a rough time coping with life changes, please check out the resources section on this site.  Of course, if they are in danger or danger to others, alert your local law enforcement immediately.  This page is updated periodically.  If there is a resource in your community or anything that may be missing, please submit it here for update:

As a part of your community, we all have a responsibility to one another to watch over, assist and guide.  No one person is journeying thorugh life alone.

Today, I charge you to search your heart for the compassion and kindness that it takes to rebuild from brokenness.  It is time to stop worrying about what others may think or say and focus on healing and love.

Suicide can be prevented if we all do our part.

Love & Light, Fam!

#inspiration

Still I Rise by Maya Angelou

Still I Rise

You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may tread me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? ‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I’ll rise.

Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops. Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you? Don’t you take it awful hard ‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines Diggin’ in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise That I dance like I’ve got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame I rise Up from a past that’s rooted in pain I rise I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise.

Maya Angelou

#inspiration

Ep. 9 – Dancing in the Rain

I am a self-proclaimed rain lover.  I look forward to rainy days the same way some of you look forward to pay day.  Where is the lie?

I never see rainy days as times to complain ot find fault.  I see the beauty in the rain and all that it emcopasses.

Without rain, there would be no growth.  Plants require the rain for their life.  They simply cannot survive without it.  Rain is life giving and equally as important as the sun.

When a rainy day is soon to come, I get quite excited.  I do not dread that day at all.  I look forward to slowing down a bit, taking my time and looking inward to answers to many questions that may have been circling.  It seems that the rain typically quiets everything in its path and makes its own music.  I use this time for introspect, growth.  

However, this time is not strictly introspective.  As the rain makes its way down through the leaves of the trees and the onto thr ground below, it makes a beautiful song – a song that you can only hear if you are listening for it. A song that con only be heard from within.  I find myself always dancining in the rain, in tune with the rhythm and delighted with every drop I feel falling fresh onto my skin.

This is my metaphor for life.  There are plenty times in our lives that we are faced with rainy seasons where the rain seems that it will never cease.  We find ourselves swaying back and forth in a fight.  Oh, but only if we learned how to dance.  If only we took each step carefully through the rain and embraced each and every little drop onto our skin, my my how things would change.

In a more literal sense, there are tons of people truly suffering through rainy seasons in their life.  They have indescribable pain that no one can see.  There is help out there for those people (or maybe even you) and you are definitely not alone.  Check out the resources section for more information and links for assistance and care.

However, if your find yourself fighting with the rain and the will to push through, put on your dancing shoes and pop lock and drop it in the rain!

Love & Light, Fam!!

#inspiration