A collection of the abridged rear-view mirrors and four-leaf clovers in life as I experience falling-up into the future. Stay wierd.MOVE Community Conference
I’m currently drinking chai while starting this blog entry in an airport. Since I have yet to leave, I’m unsure as to whether I’m able to possess a seasoned reflection on the experience I’ve had the past few days, i.e. to the extent of giving you a very tangible grasp on it through words. But blogging is an experiment after all.
In any case, I attended the long-awaited seventeenth TWLOHA MOVE Community Conference in Chicago this weekend. If you’re not familiar with this, the attendees discussed depression, addiction, suicide, and self-injury with two licensed mental health counselors along with some members of the TWLOHA team. As expected, the discussion was very dense. Some segments of the topics proved to be illuminating to me. It was also great to witness a licensed, well-experienced counselor efficiently facilitate a discussion on such topics.
What fascinated me the most, however, is the atmosphere that was cultivated there. Other attendees sharing their stories as we talked about the topics definitely kept me on the edge of my seat. I’ve never experienced people speak so openly and share so many ideas on the stigma of mental illness, the appropriate way to intervene as someone suffers, and exactly what recovery looks like for inflicted individuals. I would say the entire conference had so much sustenance that it deserved to be televised. (We did get a little coverage by a local news station though.)
As far as experiencing the city of Chicago while the conference was not in session, I mostly hung out with some conference attendees from Florida. We went to some popular downtown restaurants, but I found myself devouring the food mostly due to an unquenched appetite rather than fascination for the food itself. My only prognosis for this is that since I’ve been eating New England food the past few months, the only alternative I would legitimately enjoy is that native Southern and Creole food. When I wasn’t eating, I had my very first experience with using subways.
Chicago definitely earns its name as the Windy City; as I found myself walking in different directions while lost with the Floridians downtown, the wind always managed to blow its chilled Lake Michigan vapor directly into our faces. Regardless of this, experiencing the Windy City was an ideal break from the world of academia before I take my exams to close the semester.
I would encourage anyone that enjoys discussing pertinent issues revolving around mental illness to attend a MOVE conference. Also, engaging in the conversation there could be somewhat like a homecoming for those who have overcome suffering. (At least I can speak for myself.)
Since I have finally attended a conference, I am one step closer to bringing a UChapter to my school’s campus. I look forward to providing students not only a way to provide awareness, but also a way to present compassion and reality to those that are inflicted so they can realize that they are not alone in their struggles and that hope is as real as the pain that they’re experiencing. (Not to mention creating community on campus as well as getting involved in the local community.) I’m hoping the rest of the process of establishing a UChapter goes smoothly. With that said, I’m just keeping my fingers crossed.
With hope,
Dear Darrian
