You might know a boy who seems like trouble, who drives wrecklessly and punches walls.
You might know a girl who thinks she is too fat, or too awkward, or too uncool, and it bothers her more than you think is realistic.
You might know a man who drinks like a frat boy though he’s ten years too late for it, who is running from some pain or anger over a deep hurt.
You might know a woman who struggles with fears of inadequacy, who has scars that she tells lies to explain, who seeks attention in inappropriate ways, who laughs to cover the damage from something she can’t even remember.
All these people are around you. Sometimes you see it, and sometimes you pass it off as being irresponsible, slutty, childish.
Those are just words meant to hide from the truth of what life and people can do to someone. Life is so hard. Trust is shattered, spirits are squashed, bodies are damaged, relationships are forever broken.
But these people are not broken in any way that is unfixable. They might just not understand that they are worth fixing.
A few years ago, a group of people became determined to help a friend who needed it. They began a story, a movement, that is still playing itself out in our world.
The movement is love, and it goes by the name To Write Love on Her Arms.
There’s nothing I can say any better than they say it themselves. Many of you know why this organization is so close to my heart. As a surviving friend of more than one suicide, and someone who has tried to make an early exit herself, any group that recognizes how much people hurt and how much they – how much we all – need help, deserves my support.
Every single time I see one of their tshirts, or get a Facebook message about their recent activities, I tear up. I see those words and I think – someone understands.
To write love on her arms. To write it on her arms, where she used to write the hatred and fear and brokenness.
So I’m asking for you to consider the people around you. Is there someone you know well, or maybe barely know at all, that you think is suffering? Can you see through the craziness and outrageous behavior to what is the heart of the matter? That we are all people, inadequate and struggling without always knowing how or why?
Reach out. Tell someone you love her and she matters to you and why. Tell someone you appreciate the value he adds to your life. And if you simply can’t, consider supporting a group that does.
