People are Talking- Part 1

I started this blog 4 years ago. I almost let it die near the beginning because of fear. I didn’t want people to know that I was still autistic. I didn’t want people to know I struggled with autism because I wanted to seem normal.

It’s interesting to look back at those thoughts now. In the past year, I have posted about things I never thought anyone would know about me. I’ve posted about flapping, self injury, suicide, abuse, depression, anxiety, gender identity, and a lot more. I have gone from nearly abandoning the cause because I didn’t want to talk about autism to talking openly about mental illnesses and the effects of them. The best part though is that I have gone from feeling alone in my honesty and struggles to feeling like there is not one person that doesn’t somehow understand. Everyone who has read my blog and commented or sent me a message has connected with something I’ve shared in some way.

It is truly amazing to know I am not alone in this. I’m not alone in my struggles, but I am also not alone in sharing about them. In the past few months I have read so many blogs and posts that also speak openly about the hard stuff. People are talking about depression and mental illness and anxiety and autism and suicide. And it’s a beautiful thing.

Life is too short to be afraid. Life is too short to go through the darkness alone. Life is too short to fear losing the ones we love because of how we feel. And life is too short to take the chance of cutting it any shorter by not saying how we feel or what we need.