I’ve been keeping a little secret, and I’m so excited to finally be able to share! I had an article published in two different places-- a worldwide magazine and a large website for mental health and other health challenges (see the links below). It’s an article about how to pull someone out of the darkness of suicide, about how to love and respond and ultimately save a life.
A little background story about this article and the online magazine publishing…
Last October, I wrote a blog post about how to help someone stay. I knew I needed to share it, because maybe it could help someone else, but the thought of sharing something so personal from the lowest parts of my journey with depression made me feel very vulnerable. After several days of attempting to ignore the persistent thought that I really needed to share the post, I finally worked up enough courage to do it. My heart was racing and there was a huge pit in my stomach, but I shared it. For the next several hours, I debated taking it down multiple times. It just felt like this shameful part of me was exposed, and I wasn’t sure if that was okay yet.
And then I got a few very specific comments and messages about how this post had helped someone else along with encouragement to share this with the world, and slowly the feelings of shame and fear started to leave and were replaced with peace. I began to recognize that I didn’t need to be ashamed of the deep struggles I had faced, and pretty soon, I had the desire to spread this message even further.
It has always been my belief that people genuinely want to help others, but unless they have been there themselves, they usually don’t know how. I knew this article could be a powerful tool to help others know how to help, so I started thinking about how I could get it out there even more.
The next day, my friend Kelley Walker suggested that I submit my article to the Ensign magazine. Immediately when she said that, I had such an incredible feeling in my heart that this was exactly what I needed to do. I consulted with my talented friend Rachael Eliker who helped me edit and refine my article for submission, and after a few days, it was ready to go. The submission page informed me that it could take years for my article to be published, so I clicked “submit” but didn’t expect to hear back for a long time, if ever at all.
The next morning, less than 24 hours after submitting, I got an email saying that my article was approved for publication. I cried as I called Kyle to tell him the news. I was overcome with this humbling feeling that everything I had faced had a purpose, that my voice needed to be heard, and that Heavenly Father had given me this beautiful opportunity to help others through my experiences.
It still took some time to work through the publication process, but this month, my article was published. You can check it out in either of these places (both are a little different based on the editing done by the publishers). You are also welcome to share these if you think they could help someone you know.
***I recognize that suicide is a very tender subject for many of my friends. Please know that if you have lost a loved one to suicide, you are not to blame. ❤
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