I’m a Page!

I finally did it!

I had been toying with the idea for a couple of years not. First I thought of a website but that idea never crystallized. Finally, I got tired of always wishing I could make a difference but not really doing anything about it.

Well, I did use my personal Facebook as a platform for my activism. Those who are friends with me there, know how bumpy that road is. And then there is A Canvas of the Minds, of course.

But I felt something else was needed. So after much procrastination, I followed my ADHD impulsiveness and Voilà:

The shiny brand new Summer Solstice Musings Facebook page!

And now, I even have a shiny widget on this blog’s side bar, see?

Well, this is a new leg on my journey. I have no idea where will it take me but I am excited. 

Also, I don’t know if it is of any significance at all or not, but it is kinda cool that it coincides with World Suicide Prevention Day AND my mother’s birthday.

So yeah, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM, wherever you are!

This year, I’m prepared

For Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW), that is.

Last year, it took me by surprise.

But this year, I ordered the materials last month and I got them yesterday.  Posters, brochures, bookmarks and wristbands.

I am wearing my MIAW wristband. Are you?

I have them on display at the studio now.  Some of my fellow team members work in the health field so they took a bunch of them to display at their workplaces too.

It’s all in your head

Ah, how many times this was said to me.  Even by doctors.  Once even by a psychiatrist. MDs that are also professors at Medicine faculties tend to be some of the most obnoxious, least sympathetic people in the world.  The judge the hardest. The discriminate the hardest. They think you either read the symptoms in your textbook and just want to get out of an exam or assignment.  Or that you are just plain lazy and are trying to avoid working.

Well, I’ll be damned!

I didn’t write a post about World Suicide Prevention Day.

I did however, share both on Facebook and Twitter the Canvas of the Minds post about it and had a few public conversations on Facebook.

But now I feel like I somehow didn’t do my homework and I’m going to fail the course or something.  Especially considering that suicide -or suicide attempt, rather, is a recurrent theme in my family.

My sister.  My son.  I.

I can’t speak for the others but I know I wasn’t just trying.  I was disappointed I didn’t succeed.  However, as a sister and a mother, of course I was/am happy they didn’t succeed either.  Which is quite ironic, to say the least.  Hypocritical, even.  Most definitely selfish.

In my sister’s case, she’s mostly happy now.  She’s a mother of a wonderful little guy and she seems to enjoy life and be happy to be alive.  So that makes me feel less selfish.  I am happy for her.

In my son’s case, it’s a completely different story.  He’s a tormented young man.  He hasn’t been able to find a therapist he can trust and open up to, or a pharmacological treatment that will help him in his struggle with Mental Illness.