Whoops...here's an old one I forgot to publish

Ok, so this week has found me in beautiful St. John's, Newfoundland.

When I left Ottawa it was wonderfully summer but to my surprise when I arrived in St. John's it was still very much early spring. COLD! Luckily I had packed clothes that could be layered but for the most part I have been chilled and covered in goose bumps all week.

Finally, late yesterday morning the sun made it's first appearance, which was a welcome sight after the rain and fog and the sight-seeing tour that I had scheduled for the afternoon.

At 2:30 pm (Atlantic time-which is harder to adjust to than you would think) we filed into the bus and set out for Cape Spear. I tried to sit calmly as the bus snaked along the slightly narrow road along the mountains which overlooked the wharf. But every now and again I got this feeling that at any moment, on one of those tight bends in the road, the bus was going to roll and we'd all be splattered on the rocks below and our things would float away into the ocean.

Ok so maybe my imagination was getting the better of me but these bends were tiny and at more than one point the bus driver had to reverse and maneuver the bus around the bend awkwardly. Something tells me that if you have to do almost a 4 point turn to make a corner/bend in the road, then maybe - just maybe- you shouldn't be driving a bus up there. I'm just sayin'.

From back in the day

My favourite picture of my grandpa and I from when I was like 1 year old (I think).

Every now and then it really hits my pretty hard that he's gone, which is a little weird because it's been almost 7 years. Oh well.... Miss you, love you!

From small ideas grows greatness

From time to time I see people wearing shirts that say "To Write Love On Her Arms" and "Love is the Movement". But it wasn't until recently that I really understood what it all meant. It wasn't until I found the TWLOHA website and read what it was all about that I really understood the impact those words could have.


TWLOHA started because some people wanted to help their friend get the treatment they needed after being denied entry to a treatment facility. They created and sold the t-shirts in order to raise the money to save their friend's life.


The mission
To Write Love On Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for those struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire, and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery.

Depression is something that runs rampant in society, though no one really talks about it. It's even made its imprint within my family, though my story is the only one mine to tell.

When I was in high school I was treated for depression and at one point kept overnight in hospital one night because my mum didn't know how to help me. But I was lucky to find a great group of people, both socially and professionally, to help me learn how to deal. What probably helped the most was my sessions with the psychologist just talking it out, but I'm sure the anti-depressants influenced that too (though mild they were effective lol).

I consider myself really lucky because I learned early on how to properly deal with things and be constructive about it instead of shutting down. I know a lot of people who have confided their own struggles to me, none of whom would dare to post something like this in such an open forum as a blog for fear of who would find it. But there's no sense in hiding things like depression - if you do, you can't get help and you can't help others.

Here's my favourite part of the TWLOHA vision statement:

You were created to love and be loved. You were meant to live life in relationship with other people, to know and be known. You need to know that your story is important and that you're part of a bigger story. You need to know that your life matters.

This is what everyone needs to know.

This is everyone's truth.

To find help: www.twloha.com/find-help/
To buy merchandise: www.zambooie.com/twloha/
To donate : www.twloha.com/move/
On YouTube: www.youtube.com/TWLOHA