My thoughts on Suicide Prevention Week.

     Well. As many of you know, this week is National Suicide Prevention Week. Many people associate it with To Write Love on Her Arms, as well. Which is awesome, and I support it wholeheartedly.

     But somehow, I feel uneasy about the whole thing.

     Now, don't get me wrong. This is a cause near and dear to my heart. As someone who has struggled with suicide and self harm, I'm all for reaching out and helping those who are struggling with these things. I'm even going to school to become an Art Therapist, so I can help people who are struggling. But that's neither here nor there.

     Here's what I'm trying to get at. While it's wonderful that everyone is taking a week out of their year to raise awareness about suicide and self harm..........why are we only taking one week out of the year to raise awareness? Last time I checked, suicide and self harm don't care what week of the year it is; they'll hit you whenever they darn well please.

    And it seems to me that this whole thing is just becoming a trend. I'm willing to bet that at least half of the people participating in raising awareness this week won't even think about it next week. And at least half (if not more) of that half don't even genuinely care about it this week. They're just doing it because it's the cool thing to do.

     And that bothers me. A lot.

     So before you ink up your arm with the word "love," or post a status or tweet or blog post about how much this cause is affecting you this week, think about what you're actually doing; what you're actually raising awareness for. This stuff is not a joke or a trend to many people. Including me.

     It's real.

Be blessed. xoxoxo
Love and Rockets,
Marisa