At TWLOHA, we believe healing and freedom exist in the spaces where people can be honest about their struggles. For this reason, we are longtime fans and supporters of PostSecret. Each Sunday, the PostSecret website gives people a place for such transparency. Even in their anonymity, the colorful postcard confessions have become a symbol of the companionship found even in the most difficult of circumstances.
This Sunday, one individual’s submission hit a little closer to home. It expressed the isolation and rejection they felt from others for having “mental problems”—and it was scrawled across a To Write Love on Her Arms info card, our logo woven beneath the white ink.
What’s the story behind this card, and who sent it in? What team “kicked them out” because of the fear and misunderstanding that so often surrounds mental health issues? What troubles has this person faced (or continues to face)? We don’t know the answers to these questions. But for whatever reason, TWLOHA was chosen as a visual representation of the “problems” referenced and the events that occurred because of them. And we see that as an opportunity.
The experience shared on this postcard is certainly not limited to the person who submitted it and tells us there is still work to be done. While some might only see a problem, we have to remind them of a solution. While some might try to distance themselves, we want to push through and offer truth, encouragement, and support.
Those who experience such struggles, however lonely they may feel, are one of a great many. Our desire is that this individual—and any who might resonate with their words—would be assured of the same. We value any chance to be there in the background, woven into the stories and secrets, the trials and triumphs.