Written Upon The Passing of Peter Pan

Those who give us so much sometimes give up too much of themselves. Hearts must receive to survive or they simply bleed out.

Find what fills your heart, what sustains you. Return to it again & again. Turn away from what drains you. You deserve a whole heart.

If you carry a whole heart, seek out those who do not in order to help them. Have the patience to hold another's heart — mindfully.

So much of depression is not sadness. It is emptiness. It is numbness. And self-destruction so often is an attempt to feel anything at all.

Do not think that depression must present itself through tears. It is a chameleon-like beast, hiding in plain sight.

To "struggle" with chronic depression is real as it never ever leaves. It lives with us — sometimes in a cage & sometimes in our chest.

The beast can be tamed. It is DAMNED HARD WORK to do & no one can do it for you. It will be terrifying. It will be worth it.

Once you have the tools to tame depression, you can develop the skills. These skills never will leave you; you can rely on them to save you.

Depression is cunning, almost comfortable for its familiarity. Change — even good change — is threatening because it is new.

If we open ourselves to the possibility of happiness, we run the risk of falling into the pit of despair, so we avoid feeling at all.

But joy — JOY! — is so luscious, so warm it is worth the risk. FEEL ALL THE FEELINGS! You are capable. You can control the beast.

Ask for help when you need it & if you are not heard ask again. Ask a stranger if you must.

If you need help, just want help, think that maybe help could perhaps be worth investigating — get you some. It's good stuff.

No part of depression equals being lame or being a failure or being weak or being dumb. It's just called being human.

And never ever feel that you are alone. You are not. You may not have found your people just yet. But you're not alone.

Captain James Hook: Prepare to die, Peter Pan!
Peter Banning: To die would be a grand adventure!
Captain James Hook: Death is the only adventure you have left!

"Hook" (1991)

Robin Williams (1951-2014)