Just in line with what I’m thinking with SAY! As I became a quiet observer of their board meeting, I found myself choking up. Here were a group of women, who had likely dealt with mental health issues with their loved ones or perhaps themselves, that were offering a place for people like me to be heard.  I began my presentation feeling strong, knowing their mandate was align to mine. And I launched into it. I’m realizing, as I talk to more people, hear more stories and collide into more worlds, of the mass appeal honesty has. The more honest I am about my pain, my agony, my guilt, my struggles in not only watching my mother suffer through bipolar disorder but in trying to give her care, the  more it resonates. I know, in order to really get momentum on this, I have to channel that deep honesty through my writing or through my words.

CHAI is very interested in combining efforts – we exist in the same paradigm. So we’re going to talk and see how we can partner on this.

I’m turning my personal experience – victories and losses included – into hopefully change for the better, into a bright light onto what we can only hope is the way ahead. And here it is:

SAY is a campaign striving to recognize and legitimize the fight against mental illness (and for harmony of mind) within a South Asian cultural context. It is a knowledge raising campaign that, by sharing stories, providing solid platforms of support, and just initiating discourse, hopes to change the stigma associated with mental illness. SAY is carrying a resounding voice, reaching out to those negotiating issues of mental wellness and filling up the reserves (creatively or practically) of those family/friends already offering care and encouragement.

In the next few months of the campaign, we’re going to be talking, saying, expressing, discussing, reporting, creating, integrating, engaging in South Asian communities. We’ll share our stories with you, showcase the courage it takes to cope with and overcome the various conditions that result from mental illness. We’ll empower, inspire and clarify. We’ll say what’s been on our minds and say it beautifully.

I’m turning my personal experience – victories and losses included – into hopefully change for the better, into a bright light onto what we can only hope is the way ahead. And here it is:

SAY is a campaign striving to recognize and legitimize the fight against mental illness (and for harmony of mind) within a South Asian cultural context. It is a knowledge raising campaign that, by sharing stories, providing solid platforms of support, and just initiating discourse, hopes to change the stigma associated with mental illness. SAY is carrying a resounding voice, reaching out to those negotiating issues of mental wellness and filling up the reserves (creatively or practically) of those family/friends already offering care and encouragement.

In the next few months of the campaign, we’re going to be talking, saying, expressing, discussing, reporting, creating, integrating, engaging in South Asian communities. We’ll share our stories with you, showcase the courage it takes to cope with and overcome the various conditions that result from mental illness. We’ll empower, inspire and clarify. We’ll say what’s been on our minds and say it beautifully.