Happy Monday evening all!
I hope you had a good weekend… I certainly did. I spent it with dear friends and family that it had been months since I’d seen. People that mean a lot A LOT to me ❤️
I also started a new venture which I mentioned earlier with my beautiful partner in crime which you can catch here https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UhfZc1QD4Sk&feature=youtu.be Or by typing ‘suicidetabooandlifewithoutyou’ into YouTube 🤓🤔😳👭 (hopefully it works) I’d say a mix of these emojis definitely sum up how we felt about the Vlogging experience!
I was inspired to get into Vlogging by a motivating workshop I took part in run by successful fellow youth mental health activist Jonny Benjamin (#findmike campaign #strangeronthebridge). I was filmed in a BBC3 documentary ‘rise of the superstar v loggers’ where I’ve met people I’m still in touch with now who offer great peer support and massively fight many stigmas around having a mental health problem(s).
I’d never thought it was something I’d do as I’m more of a writer..have been a bit anonymous picture wise on this blog up until now where I enclose the YouTube clip…but it seems this is the way forward when it comes getting the word out on social media. Ahhh social media 😳 FB is the only thing I know how to use reallllly. I mean I’m on Twitter but it took me donkeys to learn how to use it and under the name of @happyabbie which some people like as it’s truthful in that I’m so happy but suffer from Depression and Anxiety… A lot so a bit confusing!
We have set up: ‘suicidetabooandlifewithoutyou’ as a platform of expression to speak out about mental health together, as we have both lost family members to suicide. We have a unique take as 2 inseparable friends from school where one saw me through the loss of my sunflower – the most horrific event to turn my life on its head and I saw her 10years later be met with the equally traumatic death of her brother…both through suicide 😔 it’s bazaar and I still can’t get my head around it. As you can see through Vlog number 1…
Vlog number 1…?! I mean we did so well this weekend. I, at work and maybe more so just labelling myself, am known as not the most literate of computer users, and my friend had only just heard of it (vlogging) when we looked at a form of ‘blogging’ together. We had to YouTube how to YouTube our video which said 450mins to upload. We’ve learned maybe 10-15minute vlogs are more effective and we need to structure. We’ve learned it’s hard work! Mentally… We were knackered by the end! But it’s all for a good cause.
It has potential our vlog, as the first of many. Sadly we live a good few hours apart so we will have to work on a filming/friendship strategy but we’ll make this work. We want to offer empathy, encourage people to open up, and fight stigma around suicide. We’ll Vlog about grief, the media and suicide, mental health problems and more…
The one attached here (if attachments work) is on my story, with the next on hers…so you understand just why we’re so passionate about doing what we’re doing. We may have a lot to learn but…we’re trying. This is for you Aaron and Shelley, this is for you. 😘🙌🏻😘
We’ll learn how to do it somehow around fitting in our jobs, our friendship, personal lives and physical distance.
We’ll learn what these comp words mean and all about I.T as if we thought it was possible for anything to bring us closer my darling, I think we found it here!
If you want to make a difference, you gotta work hard at it.
Love always, Abz 💙 X
SunflowerSeed&I 