Voice and experience have great power, according to ASHA International, a mental health awareness organization.
On Wednesday night, ASHA invited people from all over the community to pack into an auditorium at Intel. There, the guests heard from 10 storytellers, who bravely shared their mental health experience in front of strangers. It was ASHA’s second storytelling event, but first one of the new, long-term campaign called “My Story, My Superpower.”
“I was about an hour away from driving to my designated spot and ending it all,” one storyteller, a veteran, said, talking about his deep depression. He went on to explain how a tweet saved his life.
The storytellers were diverse in age, gender, sexual orientation, and skin color. They had varied backgrounds and different occupations. Some were still students; others were successful professionals, including a vice president at Nike and an attorney. The goal of the event was to encourage conversation around mental health, to address not only the challenges of it, but also the moments and movements that helped them heal.
ASHA means hope in ancient languages, and it is an acronym in English meaning: A Source of Hope for All.
Hope and healing, resilience and bravery were key messages in the stories, meant to remind those in that auditorium that they’re not alone and to encourage them to share their stories.
“Our stories are our superpowers,” Gayathri Ramprasad, ASHA International founder, said.
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