WHAT TO DO? WHAT TO DO?

(left: Yesterday Nite. Right: Patch Adams by Katie Rodgers of PaperFashion)

I try to keep my blog/social media light hearted-ish. The news is so heavy with really upsetting stuff that I'd honestly rather pin things that I can't afford, projects I'll never do and food I'll never cook.

Selfish? Meh. More like an escape.

For people who know me as more than just FIVE12 STUDIO, they know my heart. They know I pay attention to the current events and sometimes I'm the one breaking the news to my friends.

The last two days, I've been more news heavy than tips heavy on Twitter.

Why? Two things:

- Ferguson police shot an unarmed Black man. People are upset. We're tired of this happening. This is injustice.

- Robin Williams died of suicide after dealing with depression. That's hard, because a) depression, b) suicide, c) he was (as the Internet has said) the babysitter we never met.

As a blogger, I'm torn. Do I express how tired I am of seeing minorities (specifically minority men) being targeted and killed just because police want a shooting target? Or do I keep mum about it and post 10 ways to do something related to whatever?

And why do I fear doing said posts? Controversy? Backlash? Mean comments?

Maybe.

So here are two things you need to know about me if you don't know:

One: I have zero tolerance for injustice of any kind. It bothers me so much more than you know. It infuriates me to see cases such as Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis and now Mike Brown. When it happens, I speak on it. Since it's happening all the time, I speak on it a lot.

Two: Depression sucks. Living with depression sucks. Suicide is the worst because it means depression won. But battling with it constantly sucks. And whether it's a celebrity who we're talking about committing suicide or not, we need to tackle the stigma. I fully believe raising the awareness of mental health issues is important and should have been done yesteryear.

So I battle: what to do? what to do?

In the end, I speak my truth, though, it's not even about me. 

To close:

Shaun King created a petition to protect citizens from police violence and misconduct.  Please read it and sign.

Depression, the Secret We Share, Andrew Solomon (TED) is worth the listen. I saw this link on Wit and Delight's site when she wrote about her anxiety/depression/ADD. Listen and change your understanding on this.

Until next time,
C