“You know what luck is? Luck is believing you’re lucky, that’s all… To hold a front position in this rat-race, you’ve got to believe you are lucky” – Tennessee Williams

I’ve been very open about my illness and the state of my life at the moment. In part, that was an exercise in honesty, a writer’s attempt at not editing herself. In part it was something bigger; I want to take away the stigma attached to mental illness, by making it something it is okay to discuss. And maybe, although I didn’t realise or consciously know, in part it was a cry for help.
To that end, I have been inundated with messages of support and offerings of love. When they come from the people you love and expect to support you, it’s always a little too easy to take them for granted. I know that there are a few people in my life who are constant in their support for me, and who have never knowingly left my side, except – perhaps – to renew their strength before coming back. It is hard supporting someone in their darkest nights; I know, I have done it before. For those people, my nearest and closest, I am always thankful even if I don’t show it enough.
But this post is not about them. This post is about those people who have been in touch who I wouldn’t have expected. The people who I know on facebook but maybe haven’t seen for years. Those friends who were, perhaps, never particularly close, or ones that were very close, but with whom I’d lost any real contact. Those are the people I want to thank here.
Every message that has come into my inbox, even if maybe I couldn’t reply, has been a blessing. They often start “I don’t know what you’re going through, but…” and usually continue to describe the exact kind of pain I’m in, from people who have felt it too. Sometimes, people say “I never knew you felt this way”… that has often been a problem of mine. All of them, are full of such kindness – these people don’t need to write to me, they make a conscious decision to do so, simply to check I’m ok and give me their support. I am very blessed to have met people this beautiful on my journey in life, and I wanted to publicly thank them all.
Thank you.