Thank you for sharing your experience. I lost my partner to suicide in 2021 and that led me to write my first book, a memoir, which I'm hoping to publish in the next couple of years. In the meantime, I recently started my personal blog here on Substack to expand on some of the topics that I cover in my book. I'm starting with a series of posts on the complex subject of suicide to offer a new perspective through my story and experience. Thank you again for sharing yours. These conversations are very important.
Thank you so much for sharing your truth and setting an example for vulnerability in the service of helping others (it helps us when we do it too!)
I feel you SO HARD on this, to the point where last year I took a mental health leave. It was the hardest, bravest thing I have ever done, and also one of the easiest once I decided. I really, really needed it after a harrowing two years (and lots of harrow before that too)
Even though I was laid off halfway through (yep, it was legal, but done in a really, really shitty way) it the last year has been amazing in terms of my mental health. I'm better in almost every way.
Thank you, Kathleen. I hope you are feeling well today and letting that perfectionism slide just a little.
I, not unsurprisingly, have a family member who suffers terribly from untreatable depression. She is brilliant, creative, loving, and admirable. She lives 9,000 miles away, which is hard but also puts us in completely different time zones, so I can be there for her in the middle of her night.
Thanks for the reminder. I think it often helps to know others feel the darkness. My half-sister (whom I did not grow up with) died by suicide and I always wonder about whether things would have been different if she had been a part of our lives earlier.
I am one of your many admirers. We are standing with you. We are praying for you even when you can't. We are grateful that you are with us. Please continue to speak out. Please stay.
"People don’t see that I sometimes drown in self-doubt and hate disappointing people because it always feels like everything I do should be perfect." Oh, you too huh? For forty years I lived in a world where people hired me to build them a "perfect" home. It never happened for them, or me - but we got pretty damn close!
The problem with perfection is that everyone's standard is different. Fortunately, over time, I had to learn to do my very best and let that be my perfection. I see the same thing in my writing. Fortunately I've got an editor in Nashville who will tell me 'enough is enough.' Age helps. Day by day small pieces of me deteriorate, so perfect today is quite different than it used to be!
Thank you for lifting up the entire month of September as Suicide Prevention Month and sharing your personal feelings. Close friends are still reeling from the death by suicide of their daughter last year, and their courage to speak out has saved at least six specific lives this year. The first book I published was by a physician lifting up the epidemic of suicide among physicians -- Sept 17th is physician suicide awareness day. It's vital that we remove the stigma of shining a light on suicide and supporting mental health broadly.
Most of my life I haven't wanted to be here. It's often an everyday struggle. Supporting others with this helps me feel like my life has meaning.
I hope you recognize the meaning in your life too with your generosity and all you teach others about publicity and publishing.
I do--it gives me purpose. So does talking to people about mental health. I hope you know you are valuable.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I lost my partner to suicide in 2021 and that led me to write my first book, a memoir, which I'm hoping to publish in the next couple of years. In the meantime, I recently started my personal blog here on Substack to expand on some of the topics that I cover in my book. I'm starting with a series of posts on the complex subject of suicide to offer a new perspective through my story and experience. Thank you again for sharing yours. These conversations are very important.
Thank you for sharing ❤️
Thank you for this, Kathleen.
Thank you for reading it.
Thank you for being so brave and sharing about your struggles. You help to destigmatize mental health issues. ❤️
Thank you for always being open and honest. I see you and I appreciate all that you share with this world.
Thank you so much for sharing your truth and setting an example for vulnerability in the service of helping others (it helps us when we do it too!)
I feel you SO HARD on this, to the point where last year I took a mental health leave. It was the hardest, bravest thing I have ever done, and also one of the easiest once I decided. I really, really needed it after a harrowing two years (and lots of harrow before that too)
Even though I was laid off halfway through (yep, it was legal, but done in a really, really shitty way) it the last year has been amazing in terms of my mental health. I'm better in almost every way.
https://larastarr.substack.com/p/its-kind-of-a-long-story-about-the
Thank you so much for sharing! We definitely do need to check on each other more as a society!
Thank you, Kathleen. I hope you are feeling well today and letting that perfectionism slide just a little.
I, not unsurprisingly, have a family member who suffers terribly from untreatable depression. She is brilliant, creative, loving, and admirable. She lives 9,000 miles away, which is hard but also puts us in completely different time zones, so I can be there for her in the middle of her night.
Thanks for the reminder. I think it often helps to know others feel the darkness. My half-sister (whom I did not grow up with) died by suicide and I always wonder about whether things would have been different if she had been a part of our lives earlier.
I am one of your many admirers. We are standing with you. We are praying for you even when you can't. We are grateful that you are with us. Please continue to speak out. Please stay.
"People don’t see that I sometimes drown in self-doubt and hate disappointing people because it always feels like everything I do should be perfect." Oh, you too huh? For forty years I lived in a world where people hired me to build them a "perfect" home. It never happened for them, or me - but we got pretty damn close!
The problem with perfection is that everyone's standard is different. Fortunately, over time, I had to learn to do my very best and let that be my perfection. I see the same thing in my writing. Fortunately I've got an editor in Nashville who will tell me 'enough is enough.' Age helps. Day by day small pieces of me deteriorate, so perfect today is quite different than it used to be!
Thank you for lifting up the entire month of September as Suicide Prevention Month and sharing your personal feelings. Close friends are still reeling from the death by suicide of their daughter last year, and their courage to speak out has saved at least six specific lives this year. The first book I published was by a physician lifting up the epidemic of suicide among physicians -- Sept 17th is physician suicide awareness day. It's vital that we remove the stigma of shining a light on suicide and supporting mental health broadly.
Very important post. My brother in law and several friends committed suicide and we need to talk more about it. Well said.
This is SO important. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for sharing this, Kathleen. <3