Collective journal

To me, mental health means caring for your mind and emotional wellbeing. It is another facet of our overall health that shapes our ability to engage and thrive in our daily lives. Though, while I hold that perspective now, when I was growing up in my family, mental health wasn't really viewed or prioritized in that way. I was well educated about physical health. I knew that if I got physically hurt or sick, I had to go to the doctor to get better; but I didn't know what to do

My journey with mental health began in college, when I was struggling with the stress of school and being away from my family. I underwent therapy, spent a lot of time editing videos as an art student, and went for long runs in Richmond, VA, to help manage my stress. Understanding and defining my own struggle, as well as who I was becoming, was a challenging but enriching time in my life. Mental health is important to me because I think we all struggle in some way, with inter

If I were a bowl, I would not be lifted new from a shelf. I would be one that shattered, but not from being dropped. From something inside it growing larger than the space allowed. I carry the philosophy of kintsugi with me because it reflects my culture and how I understand healing. Not as a return to what once was, but as an ethical act of repair. Breakage is never random. Some cracks are caused by force. Others by neglect or mistakes. And many by systems that were never de

The past is addictive when the present is in anguish. The future is pasted in the rearview of our minds. We’re aware but the hope for...

Her flower curls up into hibernation. She’s always asleep; She’s never the blossoming garden I wish her to be...