You know all that bullshit that we used to be told about the apocalypse? I realized that the word Apocolypse doesn’t actually mean “End of the world” the way people say it does. It actually means “Change”.
What?!
I know.
The word itself means CHANGE.
Everything is changing. The older generations are dying out and the younger ones are taking over, and we’re trying to find equitable ways to live together. Still, some of us are conditioned to believe that others “deserve” to suffer, and so we just go along with it.
Some of us wake up and realize that’s not true, and that’s when we have a series of mental health breakdowns, it’s not because we’re sick, it’s because we’re literally waking up to life after something traumatic changed the way that we see the world.
Mind-blowing experiences don’t happen to everyone, but they happen enough that they can genuinely make people sick with worry, anxiety, depression, and PTSD, among other issues. These issues can lead to drug and opioid addiction disorder, which can lead to poverty, houselessness, and god knows what else. Little g because this God can’t handle everything.
It’s hard to focus on your own mental health when the issues that matter to you are in your face every second of the day, but if I don’t take this time to write this essay about mental health I am going to go insane, because I need to for five minutes think about anything other, than what is happening around the world.
I’ll go back to it when I am done here I promise, but I need this time with you, writer to reader, because it’s important that you know I’m always thinking about you even when I am not writing.
My website statistics only give me so many stats about you. Like what country you come from and what link brought you to my site, but they don’t tell me who you are, and that’s what I am thinking about when I see that there are people in Jordan and Israel reading my fucking website! Are you serious?
It’s amazing to know there are people in China, Africa, and Fez who read my website, without pressuring me to post more or be here or there more. You go from reading my site to reading my books, and I needed to stop, to talk about mental health, to let you know that saying thank you to you, that having a reason to say thank you to you all, is part of my mental health journey.
Gratitude in times of grief and suffering are hard to find. The Palestinian people are grateful but they shouldn’t have to be. They are having everything stolen from them, and they still are some of the kindest, and gentlest folks you’ll ever meet, who will still welcome you into their home if you are in need.
The people of Sudan are suffering right now harder than they ever have before. With rebel armies using women and children in ways I can’t even let myself think about, they are turning young boys into soldiers if they aren’t murdering them en masse and the world is not talking about it.
The people of Congo are still fighting for their right to be free after centuries of war and displacement. More and more folks are dying in the Congo and no one is talking about it.
But you took the time to stop and read my website, and combine with me the forces of good so that we can go into the world and talk about these things together, united against the darkness that haunts the planet.
Yup. I fucking said that shit. I got all Kristen Zimmer gooey and shit, if you don’t know who KZ is look them up, brilliant fucking writers. Brilliant LGBTQ2S+ love story gooey writer (ha ha sucker shell never read this it’s okay I can say that.)
Okay back to the important stuff. The world is fighting for its very soul right now and you can help.
Call your representatives and demand a ceasefire in Palestine. Demand that they put Eyes on Congo and then call up every journalist in your area and do the same thing.
You as an individual right now are being asked to be loud, and while we’ve had some fun here on the blog today it’s time to take five minutes and breathe. Prepare yourself for what’s to come, and then get out there and kick some metaphorical ass. You can do this sis.
Sending all my love,
Devon J Hall,
Loud Mouth Brown Girl 