Inspire A Revolution

       By now most of us have heard of Amy Bleuel, the woman who inspired the Project Semicolon.  For those of you who don't know what that is, let me blow your mind for a moment.  Amy Bleuel was a young woman who was physically abused by her step-mother beginning at the age of six, sexually abused at the age of ten, raped at the age of thirteen, endured the loss of her father to suicide at the age of eighteen, was raped twice more in college, and then suffered from alcoholism and five major suicide attempts.  That woman endured more in ten years than any person should ever have to go through.  And what did she do with her pain?  She inspired a revolution.  Amy founded a non-profit mental health and anti-suicide organization in 2013.  Amy hoped that her organization would present "hope and love to those who are struggling with depression, suicide, addiction, and self-injury" by encouraging the tattoo semicolon symbol to raise awareness and show support.  Selena Gomez jumped on board after she helped to produce the Netflix series "Thirteen Reasons Why", as did two of the actors from the show.  A book was later published by HarperCollins entitled "Project Semicolon: Your Story Isn't Over" in 2017 which is available practically everywhere now.  This was more than just a fad, it was hope.
       In literature, the semicolon is used when the writer could choose to end the sentence, but instead the author chooses to keep going.  That is what Amy Bleuel did with her life until March 23 of 2017.  The coroner ruled Ms. Bleuel's death as a suicide which left a bitter taste in my mouth.  As we mourn the one year anniversary of this amazing woman's death I ask myself, "How could she?"  She was changing lives!  People all over the world looked to her for support when they had suicidal thoughts or needed emotional help to get through the grief of a loved ones suicide.  How could she?  I begin to feel angry when I think about what she did, but I know that deep down I'm only angry because I feel the hurt.  Suicide saddens me beyond what I can describe.  It is the very moment when a person who has been suffering inconsolably for so long, while everyone else around them lives their life normally, snaps their fingers and flips it around.  Now, the person who was suffering is no longer in pain, and all the people around them who had been living normally are suddenly suffering instead.  I want to be mad and tell those people that they were selfish in the worst way, but who am I to make such a heavy judgement?  Who am I to pretend to know someones deepest pain?  How could I possibly know what it's like to wake up and feel so much hurt that I couldn't get out of bed?  To hate myself so much that no amount of encouragement could calm my mind?  So, instead of hate, I will choose to spread love.  Good for you Amy!  You endured the worst that this world had to offer.  You didn't become a serial killer, or the unabomber, or a terrorist.  You inspired the people around you to live their best life and get help.  I'm proud of you.  I support your decision. And I wish that there had been more help for you, you who helped so many others.  Today I would like to take two moments of silence.  The first as a remembrance for an innocent little girl who was lost to the madness of hate and corruption.  The second moment of silence will be for you.  The you who is reading this right now.  You are still here.  You can still make a difference.  You can inspire a revolution.
What's your revolution project?
https://projectsemicolon.com/