Take a Moment

Every so often things get serious around here, so if you only come for the giggles this is not your post.

I have a small obsession with random holidays. I create a wall calendar for myself and a few other awesome ladies so we know when things like National Absinthe Day are about to happen. Then I also put it in my phone, so I always know what’s going on that day. Yet somehow I didn’t know that today is Self-Injury Awareness Day until one friend, and only one friend, posted it on Facebook.

That’s a problem. I constantly see tons of people changing their profile picture for this or that trend, promoting all the things wrong with the government, or posting to keep somebody on a television show, but so far I’m not seeing much for today.

Part of it may be the common misconceptions. Those that hurt themselves are not “emo.” They’re not just preteen girls trying to get attention. They are everyday people struggling with issues and their emotions, and this happens to be the way they cope. 

If you are unfamiliar with self-injury, I would encourage you to learn more.

What I am really asking you to do though, is to step back a moment and stop judging.

More than one person I love deals with this issue. They are amazing people. They are caring, smart, and funny. Yet if someone learns that they self-injure, that’s all they seem to see.  

Recently I was reading a book (that I may or may not continue, the characters are refusing to do what I want them to) where the main character is a sex addict, and she struggles with telling her fiancé because of course there are all the misconceptions around what this really means. When David Duchovny said he was a sex addict, I scoffed too. Meanwhile, I am addicted to pepsi. Yes, I joke about it all the time because it’s ridiculous, but for me it’s actually very real. And for some people, self-injury has become not only a coping behavior, but an addiction that they can’t easily get support for because everyone assumes they’re trying to kill themselves or that they’re seeking attention.

I don’t think we can really ever speak to what another person may be struggling with. I certainly don’t know what you’re trying to deal with right now. However, that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be willing to listen, and try to understand. That’s one of the amazing things about humans. We socialize. We bond. We help each other.

But one of the downsides - we use gossip to bond. We pick apart other people to make ourselves feel better. We condemn what we don’t understand. We use big, sweeping generalities (like these) to explain and comprehend the world and everyone in it.

All I’m asking for today is for a little more understanding. That you put aside your view of it, look past the issues that someone struggles with, and still see the amazing person within. We should not be defined by one facet of ourselves, whether it’s our skin, our sexual orientation, or our problems. I hope that together we can create an environment where if someone needs help, they know they can say something without worrying about censure and contempt.  Now, do I honestly expect that this one blog post is going to automatically make that happen? Heck no. I think I have about 5 people regularly reading this. But if this can reach and help even one person be more aware, I would be grateful.

It’s not very often I get on my soapbox, so thank you for taking the time to read this. It could be worse – I’ve been seriously considering finally writing down my rant for why I absolutely hate Twilight. Years later and I still can’t get over it apparently. Freaking Twilight.