Running with Shame: How I Reclaimed Movement
Movement is so much more than a weapon of shame and my story is proof that it can be rewired.
Topic: depression
Movement is so much more than a weapon of shame and my story is proof that it can be rewired.
My best advice to someone dealing with a mental illness is this: figure out what helps you the most.
I’m writing to you from the inside. From the mouth of the lion. The bottom of the well. It’s dark down here, and it’s lonely. But we’re here together. And I’m telling you: there’s something better waiting for us.
For me, being isolated was the scariest thing. The days I felt most depressed and suicidal were only enhanced when I isolated myself; when I decided that no one wanted to hang out with me or loved me. Those days were the worst.
It takes a boldness to say that your brain is sick. That you need help. That you can’t do whatever this is alone anymore.
In college, I would put on gym clothes, tell my roommates I was going to workout, and sneak to counseling. As soon as I started being more open about my mental health struggles, my life got exponentially better.
By highlighting these tales of human struggle, emotion, and triumph, we hope to share in the wonder of storytelling, and embrace the many ways it can bring us to feel and relate.
Some days, brave means choosing to stay. Even though I’m afraid. Even though I’m hurting.
I have a history of substance abuse and self-injury. My work is all about encountering people who know these struggles intimately as well.
Sunshine days, is what I would call them—when I woke up and there weren't any clouds.
It’s like being stuck in a game of hide and seek, wondering why no one has found you yet—but maybe I was hiding so well that nobody could find me.
I’m not depressed, I’m just tired. Preston isn’t coming back, I know this now. I’ve accepted this, and there’s no basis for any depression to occur within me. Everything is as okay as it will be, and we all just have to keep going. I’m not depressed.

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