BreakawayIndividual.com
Zy Marquiez
June 26, 2019
As a preamble, this piece on mental health is prompted by two different significant circumstances, one of which is personal, one of which is not, that took place the last day. The personal component will lead to set the foundation for what follows.
This piece will only touch lightly on the subject of mental health as equal parts vent and equal parts reminder for others to make sure that whether you happen to know someone, or simply think someone else might have mental health concerns, let them know that you are there, no matter what. No matter how many times it takes, for there are not enough ways to tell people you care for them.
When any single person takes their life because they thought nobody was there for them, which has happened way more often than it ever should have, it shows the possibility that (1) these individuals were not told they were cared for, or loved, (2) they were told, but didn’t really believe it, (3) they were told, but they were not shown, (4) they were told and shown, but it never registered anyways, (5) they went through one of the above circumstances, but their health issues didn’t allow them to have their mental faculties in full, preventing them from noticing, or appreciating the truth behind someone’s actions, or (6) another issue altogether that couples to the above in a different way.
As it happens, I have been writing quite a bit about mental health the last couple of days, and all of this stemmed from a poem that I helped co-write, which was thankfully a collaboration with a very talented acquaintance that I only met nigh a week and a half ago or so. During a conversation, she brought up the idea of a collaboration before me, and after we jumped at the chance, she settled on the topic of depression, which I didn’t mind whatsoever.
To say the least, the poem was incredibly thought provoking, and quite inspiring in a few different ways, which I kind of didn’t expect to be honest. On a subjectively deeper level, this piece made me think of lots of personal emotions and issues that I haven’t delved into for quite some time for various reasons, and even downright buried for many years. Having said that, what we wrote resonated with me so much that I have written dozens of poems of myriad types, some of which I plan on sharing in the future hopefully, including some the topic of depression, or darker subjects that revolve around mental health.
In fact, today, while I was stretching and writing poetry on this and other subjects, I got a text from a friend that said someone that we followed on social media had unfortunately passed away, which is where the second component of this blog posts comes in.
Through my friend I come to find out that Desmond “Etika” Amofah passed away due unfortunately to suicide. Whether someone is a youtuber or not, it’s extremely unfortunate when someone takes their life, especially when there were significant mental health issues that were known for months beforehand, but this is also how it happens at times.
How I ran into Etika’s work was simply by watching him over a decade ago on Youtube covering gaming, which is something that I am incredibly fond of. He was one of the content creators that clawed his way from the bottom and rose all the way to the top, and was incredibly popular for what he accomplished, and even inspired many in his journey. I won’t cover much more than that given that there’s literally countless articles out there covering the deeper aspects of his life. I simply mention this because although I didn’t know him, I did watch him enough to find an incredible affinity and kinship towards him, as many others have, when he was doing his work and it made me incredibly gloomy after hearing of his passing, especially given the circumstances.
The keystone point is, don’t ever assume people know you care, or even love them, and even if they do, they might still have problems reconciling that fact. Everyone thinks differently, so how someone expresses how they care is vastly different from how another individual does. Likewise, different people see acts of caring and love in different ways. Some people see small circumstances and find a lot of caring and love behind it, others do not; some people express themselves in ways they think are obvious forms of caring and love towards others, but others might not see it that way given countless reasons.
With all of that in mind, it is downright crucial to show others that you care and/or them, whether they have mental health issues or not, but especially if they do.
Consistent acts of kindness, whether small or not, can go a long way to help others come out of the catacombs of mental health issues, or prevent them from getting there in the first place.
Never underestimate the power that showing others you care can have. It might be the smallest gift you can give, but it might be the best gift someone could ever receive, because it just might change the course of their life forever.
___________________________________________________________
Author Notes:
[1] I say perhaps, because I am uncertain of what these individuals have gone through, or go through, but subjectively speaking I have found this to be true for myself and some close to me)
[2] Honestly, I wouldn’t had written this blog post if I hadn’t collaborated with the person I co-wrote that depression poem with. It’s not that I don’t have appreciation for mental health issues, it’s just hard for me to speak about these issues subjectively given some things that have happened in my past. But having had to privilege not only to write something on this very topic, but have it be meaningful in a way, incredibly so in fact for me personally, has nudged me in a direction that I hadn’t contemplated in going toward, but one that I appreciate to the fullest extent. I definitely let the person know that I appreciated the opportunity and I sure hope we can work together again, not only because (I think) we worked well together, but also because of how well the poem came out, but that will ultimately be up to them.
Either way, this situation is just one of those seemingly little circumstances that can change your outlook on many things, and make you realize that there are people out there that will relate with what you have to say at the deepest levels, and I haven’t been able to do that with this topic, not like that. Especially given that I often mask emotions with metaphors and I am not as blunt as I am in my personal journal or random accounts I often employ in various nooks across the internet just to let off steam.
My main point is that many times people think that there aren’t others out there that care, or care enough to listen to them, or to help them wade through the issues, when in fact the opposite is true. There are people that would walk through oceans of fire for them to make sure that they are okay. But as I’ve alluded to elsewhere, many people often don’t show others that they care because they see the acts that they themselves undertake as ‘obvious’ acts of kindness, even when others might not see it that way. And if a person sees their own actions as an obvious act of kindness and love, why wouldn’t others? Simple: because not everybody thinks likes you, feels like you, acts like you, or ultimately lives like you, why is why you should never underestimate the power of acting out of love, no matter who this action is towards, and whether you know that person or not.
You all have a great evening, and no matter what, always show others you care.
___________________________________________________________
If you find value in this information, please share it. This article is free and open source. All individuals have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Zy Marquiez and BreakawayIndividual.com
___________________________________________________________
About The Author:
Zy Marquiez is an avid book reviewer, inquirer, an open-minded skeptic, yogi, and freelance writer who aims at empowering individuals while also studying and regularly mirroring subjects like Consciousness, Education, Creativity, The Individual, Ancient History & Ancient Civilizations, Forbidden Archaeology, Big Pharma, Alternative Health, Space, Geoengineering, Social Engineering, Propaganda, and much more.
