You may have heard that Seattle has been a bit of a, shall we say, ruthless, frigid bitch these past few weeks. It has already been declared the snowiest February on record and we aren’t even halfway through. Up until this point the winter had been really quite mild and it’s almost as if Seattle…
Tag: mental illness
Marika – Vulnerability Hangover
I was born with a brain that has never been remotely interested in things that are good for me. If my brain was an actual person, that person would sabotage me at every turn, then photoshop Adam Levine into all of my Instagram photos. For much of my life, I thought I was broken, an…
Heather: Teacher & Survivor
As this school year began I sat in a staff meeting. The school counselor clicked and a slide showing behaviors and warning signs of suicidal students. I shifted in my seat, the descriptors painted a picture of me from my teenage years well into my 20’s. My colleagues sitting in the presentation with me didn’t…
Liam – His Story
Every morning I sense a feeling of guilt, from where this emotion comes from is unknown and at times extremely confusing. My brain seems to try and pull a reason from somewhere, was it an embarrassing moment at work? Did I impulse spend too much money last night? Did I drink too much? Where are my keys? Did I…
Viola: A Survivors Story
My earliest memory of grappling with the concept of suicide occurred when I was 9 years old; the night before my first day back to school after summer break when my mother was in her room stabbing herself in the chest with a ballpoint pen screaming at my father to let her die. Many people…
The Faces
Their stories, their words — the subjects from the Faces of Fortitude project — talk about suicide; be it loss, survival, ideation, first responders. Faces of Fortitude shares the portraits of those affected by suicide in any way, and a few of their words from my session with them. THIS blog is an extension of…
The Faces of Fortitude 