Walking 18-miles to Save a Life

I'm walking 18-miles tonight at The Overnight because

* Someone dies by suicide every 16 minutes in the US
* There is one suicide attempt every minute
* 33,000 die by suicide each year
* Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death among teens and young adults
* Depression is the leading cause of suicide
* More than 19 million suffer from depression in the US
* The best way to prevent suicide is through early detection diagnosis & treatment

If you haven't already: Donate to www.theovernight.org
Look up The Afterw@rd-COSIA Team.

All funds will got to support the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, a 501(c)3 organization. This year's Overnight donations will go to support the following:

* 18 new research studies advancing our understanding of suicide and ways to prevent it
* help establish 5 new AFSP chapters across the country
* help recruit thousands of grassroots volunteers to advocate for suicide prevention
* help distribute new educational film for high school students to teach them bout depression
* help the local IL chapter with regional suicide prevention programs

I'm taking my first step towards a life well lived and helping others do the same.

The Afterw@rd

Too Late To Learn?

National Public Radio recently interviewed Todd Snider on the release of his new album, The Excitement Plan, where he uses therapeutic humor to manage the bipolar swings.

The songs touch the heart of the struggle of what it means to be bipolar. There is one song that wishes his therapist could be more specific than "do the best you can do." Another song that finds the comedy of errors of landing in jail as a "political prisoner" for a drug possession. Yet another song highlights that you can run a Doc "No-hitter" Ellis, where one can do good when running highly wrong. Indeed, none of these songs are about following conventional wisdom.

While I can't say I agree with the appropriateness of all the songs' content, I do agree with the approach. The songs are real. They also reflect his personal walk of discovery. Drugs and alcohol are often used to medicate the swings when we can't control or grasp how low we can go.

I can understand and empathize with Snider's struggle. You would figure that at 40-something you would know better, to do things right. Instead, we often feel like we're in a constant 20-something hamster wheel learning mode. It's like reading a 15 year old journal entry and seeing the same drama that just happened yesterday. The hard fact to face is that the only common denominator is you. It is so nice to have people coming out of the closet with their struggles. It let's us know that we are not alone, that those we love are not alone in their struggles.

However, it's empowering to think that if we embrace that which is therapeutic, that which is supportive, that which brings us solace, and do that which allows us to feel our best, we might just be on to something that allows us to be the best we can be not despite the illness but because of it.

Todd's songs are actually kind of catchy too. Do check him out.

The Afterw@rd