Stay Alive.

While I was playing online the other day... Not research. As guilty of a pleasure it is, I still randomly do nothing on occasion. Well, I came across this remarkably moving story. It really moved me, to tears actually. There was this amazing poet,  Rachel Wetzsteon and she decided to end her life at only 42 years of age. How very sad and disappointing. Such talent is lost. Apparently there are a lot of talented people that go through a great deal of hardships. The story shared the sad misfortunate suicides of several poets including one of my favorites, Sylvia Plath. What I carried from the story wasn't the deaths... it was the incredible message delivered by a close friend of Rachel Wetzsteon. Writer Jennifer Michael Hecht has written some very powerful words and hopefully they will affect others losing the battle. Please read...

"I’m issuing a rule, you are not allowed to kill yourself. Some part of you doesn’t want to end it all, and I’m talking to her or him, to that part of you. I’m throwing you a rope, you don’t have to explain it to the monster in you, just tell the monster it can do whatever it wants, but not that. Later we’ll get rid of the monster, for now just hang on to the rope. I know that this means a struggle from one second to the next, let alone one day at a time. Know that the rest of us know that among the faces we have met there are some right now who can barely take another minute of the pain and uncertainty. And we are in the room with you, going from one moment to the next, in whatever condition you manage to do it. Sobbing and useless is great! Sobbing and useless is a million times better than dead. A billion times. Thank you for choosing sobbing and useless over dead... Don’t kill yourself. Suffer here with us instead. We need you with us, we have not forgotten you, you are our hero. Stay." - Jennifer Michael Hecht


I've attached the link for the story if you'd like to read it in full.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2010/01/a-call-to-poets-stay-alive.html


We all wrestle with demons.  Get mad. Be angry. Cry if you need to. No one is ever alone. Promise. M.

These times they are a-changin'.

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.
The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.


"The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness."

Inauguration day. This is one of those defining moments. I was moved and I can not even imagine anyone who isn't emotional at this moment. Barack Obama, is an amazing man with very powerful and inspiring words. This new president is bringing so much hope to our failing nation. The next years will be nothing but revolutionary as he brings about CHANGE! It's an exciting and inspiring time to be alive. If you didn't catch his inaugural speech, by all means... GO AND WATCH IT!