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A shift has happened to me within the last few weeks. I can’t pinpoint it, but I know something has happened.
I’m starting to shed layers of myself that I didn’t even know were there.
I’m taking more risks by being even more vulnerable and authentic, and the response I’ve been getting has been overwhelmingly positive.
I’m changing.
I’ve been consistently publishing content online for over a year now, but I now realize that, for most of that year, I had been subconsciously holding myself back.
I’m finding my voice, more and more, with each passing day.
And I’m finding it in the most unlikely of places — in a place that I never would have expected. A place I would have scorned years ago.
That place is Twitter.
I’m opening up on Twitter about my mental health story to see where it can weave into the fabric of others’ lives.
I’m being vulnerable every single day on Twitter, and people are sharing their stories with me in return — in comments, in messages, and in blog posts.
There is no greater feeling than being myself and seeing other people come alive with who they are.
My proudest moments come not from what I’ve created or accomplished, but from what others have accomplished in response to something I did.
Here’s a story to illustrate my point: Years ago, I published something on Facebook about my struggles with mental health.
I was just starting to reach the point that I am now describing here.
I was just entering the realm of true vulnerability.
I was speaking in public about my past mental health challenges.
It was about one particular challenge that I wrote and shared on Facebook.
I didn’t figure many people would read it.
I just wanted to get into the habit of showing up in online spaces in more authentic ways.
I was tired of reading the same old drivel.
I didn’t care if my post didn’t get “likes;” I just knew I had something to say.
What happened next is remarkable.
A friend — well, more of an acquaintance at the time — saw what I wrote and messaged me on Facebook.
He had never opened up about his mental health story, not even to his closest friends.
He asked if we could meet up.
When we did, he shared everything.
He thought there was something horribly wrong with him — that he was broken. I assured him that he was not — that many people went through similar struggles, often in silence.
It was as if a light turned on behind his eyes.
Little did I know the impact my post and this conversation would have on him.
Within a matter of days, he had an idea for a mental health nonprofit.
Within a matter of weeks, the website was up, and this now-friend was working on gaining nonprofit status.
Today I sit on the board of Awareness Network, a mental health nonprofit that first started as a way to raise awareness for anxiety disorders — and direct youth to treatment.
Now it helps cover the cost of mental health treatment for youth in Helena, Montana.
This is what I’m talking about. My greatest moments are not my achievements.
My greatest movements are from being vulnerable enough to let others step forward and present their true selves.
This world doesn’t always like that.
We are driven towards conformity. Many industries, including healthcare, are shifting towards mass depersonalization.
That’s a shame.
And it’s not something that I want to allow to happen.
Which is why I’m talking about mental health every day on Twitter, on my website, and here on Medium.
It’s what makes me happy, it’s how I feel I can be of service, and it’s a path that I’m ready to walk — even though I don’t know where it will take me.
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Photo by margot pandone on Unsplash
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