Earlier this week I got a message from Rachel of Get Ready Set Go, inviting me to participate in a campaign to raise awareness of a movement called To Write Love on Her Arms Day. "To Write Love on Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery." You can read more about it here.
Rachel's idea was to gather as many Etsy sellers as possible and ask them to make a treasury (Etsy's curated guides) on this theme. The response was overwhelming, and you can see the results here. Each collection is a powerful reminder to see the people around you who are struggling, and to know that healing is possible. Someone you know is depressed. Someone you know self-injures. Someone you know struggles with addiction or despair. If you become the custodian of their story, embrace it and treat them with kindness and respect. Celebrate their healing.If you need help, you can find it here:
National Suicide Prevention Hotline 1-800-273-TALK
Self Injury Hotline (SAFE) 1-800-DONTCUT
Alcoholics Anonymous (find a meeting here)
Please tell your story, and listen if someone you know needs to tell theirs.
2 comments:
thank YOU SO MUCH KATERI! those links were exxential. i so appreciate you taking the time to speak out about this movement. have a wonderful weekend.
xox, rachel
You are a special person, and I appreciate your passion for things that resonate with you AND your willingness and ability to use your writing gifts to support them. It happens that, just prior to reading this, I was e-mailing with a friend from NH who has struggled with depression for many years. We have had so many long talks about the issue, and I have struggled to remain patient and to try to be understanding. And the fact is (I think), if you haven't been there, it is really hard to grasp what a depressed person goes through and how they see the world. So often I feel so inadequate. If I didn't have the Lord to turn to, I would just totally shut it out, because it's just so overwhelming on your own.
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