October 9, 2015 Journal Entry - I Have a Dream
After the first day of journaling, I continued because it felt cathartic. Here is an excerpt from the journal where I wrote my version of Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have A Dream.
October 9, 2015
10:55 PM
I have a dream. I have a dream that one day people suffering from this disease and all other diseases of the mind will not be judged by the name of their diagnosis but by their strength, heart, compassion, and talent.
I am bipolar, and I hide it from most. I want to come out. But I want to do it in a meaningful way. I know there are many Americans who are just like me. We have a duty to come together and form a network to help the people who are struggling alone.
A dream that this will be the year, that 2015 will be the year to take on and conquer the stigma. For millions of people to come out and publicly acknowledge that they have been diagnosed, they are taking medicine, they are in treatment for a disease of the mind.
I have a dream for people to see the positive in mentally ill people. I have hope.
I cannot continue to hide and watch the association between school shootings and mental illness to be the only story in the media.
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