I think by now you kind of know the HW story. If you still are curious about some things or missed a few emails and really want to know more click here 🤣
And for the story of how Hello Wednesdays came to be click here.
Can I tell you my Semi-colon story though?
Every Sunday and Monday I post on FB and IG about Mental Health. It has been a wonderful practice for me. I have loved to learn more about how the brain works and how our choices are really the biggest strength we have.
When we launched HW in October 2020 (getting close to our 1st anniversary!!) we started as a little jewelry business. It has been such a blessing to be connected with wonderfully diverse people across the country (and world!).
Over the last year there have been a lot of challenges for us all. I tread lightly here out of respect and privacy of my loved ones...but several people close to me have had to look mental illness square in the eyes. It has been excruciatingly painful to witness. I have frantically plunged into the world of research in order to support and attempt to lighten their burdens. Diagnoses of OCD, Anxiety, Panic Disorder, and ADHD, to name a few, have shown their terrible "claws" in the lives of those I love.
So, when you see an email from HW or when a post comes through your feed, know that these battles I am talking about and these quotes I am spewing out and this SEMI-COLON charm I am pleading for you grab for free is actually my calling out for AWARENESS. Mental Illness is REAL. We can no longer live our lives and not TALK about it. EDUCATION. UNDERSTANDING. COMPASSION. HOPE. COMMUNITY. DIALOGE. We need to provide space for this.
My hope...Hello Wednesdays hope is to spread this awareness, to saturate our tiny circle of influence with compassion, and to lighten the burdens that are silently carried by those who suffer.
I promise to share more of my story as the people I love find more space and freedom to share their stories. But in the meantime, please know that this isn't just fluff. I am a real person who suffers and cares and hopes and strives, however imperfectly to carve out my own little space in this world and attempt to make some small difference in a world that is suffering, but still so very full of hope and light and good.
As always, I would love to hear from you. I would love to make connections and build bridges together!
xoxo,
Betsy