Hello, it’s me, Charlotte,
Seeing that this is my first piece with MHAC, I wanted to start off with saying hello, you! Thank you for taking the time to read this, whoever you are. You’re really lovely for doing so. I think with many great beginnings, seeing that this will be a year long journey (or more if I’m lucky), we should start with introductions before we get into the good stuff. You can read my bio about who I am and if you have the courage, you can tell us your story in the comments or on our Facebook group. Trust is a two way street anyways, and I hope you know that my writing will always be honest and real to you.
I want to start off with thanking our club presidents, Jane and Maja, for allowing me to join the team, even though I’m a complete rookie to the club! I also want to thank another Jane, the editor of this blog, for giving me the opportunity and space to write whatever I want. This is an open space for communication and education! Let’s do this together.
So, my name is Charlotte and I’m an aspiring writer. I think my goals this year are to share with you my personal stories, or stories from people in the community (whether my friends or other UBC students or Vancouverites) about their experiences/struggles with mental health. When I think of mental health, I don’t see black or white, or even gray. I see all these beautiful and bold colours: limey greens, rosey pinks, zingy oranges, and even burning yellows. You cannot look at a person for being just one colour. We are all a mixture of colours, just like we are all different people facing different struggles. This is where the magic of storytelling comes in, a powerful and rare quality that I love so much. I think with stories and education, we’ll be able to raise more awareness on the community, about the people that are hidden within the crevices of our neighbourhood that deserve our attention. It’s not that we haven’t done so already, but these stories aren’t spoken enough. Although we’ve come a really long way with promoting mental health awareness and mental health issues, there is still so much more room for growth. Just talking about these issues and ideas aren’t good enough; we must turn these little words into big and powerful actions.
Moreover, my fellow bloggers’ posts are absolutely fantastic! (You should definitely check them out!) There is so much scientific growth and new discoveries about mental health. It’s great to have a balance too, you can definitely read a little bit of everything on this blog!
So again, with utmost gratitude and excitement, thank you for reading up to this point this far! I think to start my own personal trademark with my posts, I’d like to end each post with one line that I’ve written in my own journal to remind myself what I am and what I’m not. I hope you’re ready to embark this journey with me, a journey through the hazy yet florescent clouds of our minds.
Line 1: “I refuse to be any less than what lies ahead of me.” — Charlotte Nip
Written by Charlotte Nip