Today is world semicolon day.
Project semicolon was founded by Amy Bleuel in 2013, 10 years after the suicide of her father.
A semicolon represents a sentence the author could have ended, but chose not to. The author is you and the sentence is your life.
Sadly, Amy recently ended her life by suicide.
She leaves behind a legacy of thousands (probably more like hundreds of thousands) of individuals who have followed in her footsteps and gotten a semicolon tattoo, including me and my son.
When Johnathan and I got the tattoos in 2013, barely anyone knew what they represented and frankly we weren’t that open about it. We either told people it was private, or we were grammar Nazis. If you know us, you know the former isn’t all that truthful, but the latter certainly is:)
The real fact of the matter is, he and I are both survivors and we were one another’s reason to survive. Because of the many years I was depressed, I needed him in order to keep living—even though the life I was leading truly wasn’t a “life.” He needed me in the same way too. We were each other’s reason for being. I’m certain without each other, neither of us would’ve made it through.
Thankfully those awful times are behind us now, but there are so many others who still suffer daily. More importantly, most of these people may appear to be just “Fine,” as both my son and I were. Depression is tricky. Someone can appear to be just fine (and may be high functioning—even a high performer at work, as I was) yet crumbling behind closed doors.
When I “came out” and published my first article revealing the depth of my depression, even my family and some of my closer friends were shocked to find out the real truth.
So today (and every day) be cautious and treat those around you with grace.
Draw a semi-colon on your wrist today if you are feeling suicidal, suffer from mental illness, living with anxiety or unhappiness, self-harming, surviving a broken heart, or learning to live without a loved one.
Your story is not over. Neither is mine. We have so many more chapters left to share.
If you or someone you know is in crisis or having suicidal thoughts please reach out. You are not alone. Here are some resources.
#projectsemicolon #notweakjusthuman
Photo 1/semicolonproject.org
Photo 2/Courtesy of Author