The Reason Behind My Voice

  It Gets Better!                                       Photo credit: Nappy As the curtain closes on Mental  Health Month, I felt led  to share my story with my readers. But before I go any further, I would just like to remind you of a few things.  Mental Health Awareness is important.  Your mental health is important.  Your thoughts matter.  You matter. It is no secret that there is a common but undeserved stigma attached to mental health. Whether or not we want to admit it, everyone  has mental health. Just as one is concerned about their physical well-being, the same should apply to their emotional well-being.  However, this utopia does not exist and many of us neglect to take care of our minds. Being raised in the Caribbean I have noticed that we do not talk about our feelings, we do not share what is bothering us and we seldom reach out for help. This may be that we are too ashamed or we are afraid of being shunned.    There is nothing to be ashamed of. There is nothing wro

  Photo credit: Javon Swaby   I had so many plans for this year! This was supposed to be my year of revival, releases and recovery. I thought for sure had seen enough down days and I had been educated at the school of hard-knock for long enough; it was time for graduation.   It was much to my dismay when this lock-down was  issued and my plans had to be placed on hold. I did not plan for this. Where did this set-back fit into my plan? After all, 2020 was really supposed to be a movie. I had to learn through the disappointment, through the pain and loneliness. As a writer, you learn to see the good in everything but when you are "in medias res" this can be quite a task.    If we are to be honest a lot of good has come from this lock-down.     Photo credit:  Kehn Herman   It has made us more creative.   As creatives we are taught that the world is our stage and we must always be prepared to perform, even if that means with bruised knees and tears in