January 18, 2012 - Dear Me
“On average we lose 1 young Western Australian to suicide each week.” (WA State Coroner). ”More people die as a result of suicide each year in Australia than there are fatalities on our roads.” (Australian Bureau of Statistics). You can support The Black Dog Project and those who may be struggling by simply passing on this ‘Dear Me’ note, and the related articles that follow, through your email and Face Book contacts. If you need to talk, Lifeline offers a 24/7 phone service 13 11 14. Or see Black Dog’s links webpage.
‘Dear Me’ …..
There is a book out that poses the question…if you could write a letter to your 16 year old self, what would you say? Considering, at 15, I tried to take my own life, this is what I’d say….
….. You’ll still be here. You’ll survive way beyond things you believed you couldn’t. And there will be many more times when you can’t bear the thought of living another day. Another moment. But know that it is but a moment. A moment in which you have only this desperate thought. But moments come – and they go. Tomorrow may not feel a whole lot better but it can be a starting point – not the end. You’ll need to take some seemingly impossible steps. Every day. Day in and day out to get to wherever it is you’ll eventually find a sense of place. A sense of purpose and meaning. And you don’t necessarily have to know exactly where or when that will be. You just need to maintain the drive and determination to find it. Keep putting one foot in front of the other ……and thoughts of not making it behind.
And you’ll have some massive spills along the way that will lay you flat for varying lengths of time – but you’ll get up. Eventually. Every time. You’ll get up. You must. And you’ll go another round so you can at the very least, prove to yourself you can. Your weakest point will be to rely on someone else to do this work for you…
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When you’ve got a head that’s full of good thoughts and images, life looks a whole lot different to those who have a head full of unwanted thoughts and images. And they say thoughts can’t hurt anyone else, but they can cause harm to yourself. One way I dilute unwanted thoughts is by reading and collecting helpful words and images. Creating an alternative world - which is what I do through the Clunk & Jam notes. And because of all the overbearing thoughts in my head, reading can be a challenge, so as I read I have to write on and circle things that I wan’t to remember – and share. Click on the typewriter to view this interview I marked out with Author, Paul Jennings in Dumbo Feather Magazine. He talks about a boy with mental illness; about the value of dark stories to children; and about not fitting into the tribe too (2 pages)… click and see…
Oh BOy. The bound up BOy. Crushed beneath the pressure, the grind to be tough and strong. Big. The overwhelming wave of responsibility to save everything from time, to the environment – the world itself. But I’ve seen the BOy dance and cry. Read poetry out loud. Wear makeup. Pick flowers. Speak his truth. Challenge his world. Name his feelings. Play piano and sing. Hug another BOy.
BOy oh BOy I cried…and a dream saw hands on the wheel of change. Ploughing a culture in where the feelings, vulnerabilities and experiences of men and BOys cannot be freely expressed and accepted. Burying the angst that has the potential of bringing BOy to his own end. BOy oh BOy said the dream … may ideals and expectations of the BOy be reset, redrawn. May BOy be moved and freed from his grueling vigil by the roar for change. The momentum of the march towards it. And the wonder at a way and time when BOy is no longer required to be just one of the boys anymore.
(Picture found in book ‘Huckleberry Finn’ by Mark Twain, first published in 1884. He also wrote, “The worst loneliness is not being comfortable with yourself.”)
Put your hand on the wheel of change – and pass this on …
Click typewriter for Clunk & Jam version.
It takes guts to be gentle and kind… click on the typewriter for this Clunk & Jam note with song lyrics…do you recognise the face? Answer in the next post.
Bought this book today called ‘The Mysteries of Harris Burdick’ by Chris Van Allsburg ($17) – quite by accident as I spotted it on a shelf up high behind the counter in a bookshop ‘put away’ for someone. It was the only copy so I went on a hunt around town and found another. The book contains 14 beautiful drawings without stories, just titles. The artist has never been found, nor the stories he wrote about the pictures. But they were published as a collection of drawings in the hope that children will be inspired by them – and write their own stories (grown ups too). Bit of that story from the book ….
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Just don’t put me on the spot.
Click on the typewriter to print a Clunk & jam note with this guy and a few of his mates. Pass ‘em on, stick ‘em up …
