Your Safe Place

Recently I lost someone very dear to me. A friend, a partner and quite frankly, the reason I am who I am today. We all go through that dysfunctional phase as we grow up; going through high school, learning from mistakes and moving on from ...there. For me however, I had a hard time moving on from any of the lessons I was supposed to leave behind. I was confused with who I was and had no idea what my purpose was supposed to be. I went through a long period of self-hatred very early in the game. I acted like I didn't care about what people thought and what happened to me. I grew anxious and had panic attacks when I was alone that eventually grew worse and began happening more often. Through it all however, my friend was there, he listened and we became very very close, relying on each other to make it through it all - keeping me here because I made a promise to always come back for visits. A few years ago, during a bad week, my dad sent me a link to a song by Shinedown, one of my favourite bands, and said it was something I had to listen to, something that might help me. During one of his performances, singer Brent Smith spoke of a young man he knew when he was younger who tried committing suicide but could not pull the trigger. The speech brought me a sense of peace, knowing I wasn't alone trying to figure out where to go from here, telling me there's hope for those deemed helpless. I took that lesson and found a way to use what I have learned through my friend and this song and created this safe place with the help of my very good friend Caleb. This post isn't meant to give you the medical meaning or sudden inspiration to get up and do something with yourself - it's to show you that you are not alone. Whether you suffer from mental illness, loneliness, physical disability or even the lack of motivation to keep going forward etc. - you now have a safe place to talk about it - or express yourself through art and music. I had someone who was always around to help me through the hardest (and quite frankly the most awkward time of my life - be thankful there are no pictures attached here) Now, this is our public promise to be that person for you. I hope you enjoy the song - and remember, now that you're here, you'll never be alone again. Welcome to True Reflections. "You have not even begun to scratch the surface of how important your life means to not only your family and friends – but your life which is a gift to the world that is waiting for you. The will to live, will always outweigh the ability to die." Love always, ~Hailey