hi, you.
yes, you.
you right there reading this right now.
hi.
—
you're a boy or a girl.
i don't know.
for what's coming ahead, it doesn't particularly matter.
what matters is you.
you.
—
you're somewhere between one and one-hundred twenty-two.
[because nobody's lived older, and i doubt anyone younger than one would be reading this. or above one, to be honest]
you're human.
those are the facts.
but the world is not run by facts.
the world is run by impulses, by urges, by emotions.
—
here are the not-facts:
you might be a kid, under eighteen
or you might be older.
you might be from
north america, or south america, or europe, or africa, or asia, or antarctica
you might be a dreamer
or a pragmatic realist.
whatever.
you're still human.
[remember, that's a fact]
—
this is for the kids, the teens, the adults, this is for the ones hurting.
hi.
you're not alone.
—
this is for the nerds, the jocks, the preps, the ones separated by labels.
hi.
there are others.
—
this is for the dreamers, the lost, the found, the ones who don't know anything anymore.
hi.
i'm sorry.
—
hello, my name is dee.
today, i'd like to remind you of something very important.
there are over seven billion people in the world.
somebody loves you.
—
i want to remind you that you are not perfect.
that nobody is.
that what makes you human are your flaws.
—
and right now, i want to make a note to this generation, to my generation.
to the teens who hurt themselves.
who smile for no reason.
who are breaking.
you are worth it.
you are worth their love.
put that knife down.
it's not worth it.
—
and i'd like to make another note to the fakers in my generation, this generation.
don't romanticise depression.
don't think scars are aesthetic.
do you think this is a JOKE?
are you kidding me?
cutting is not cool.
mental illnesses are not 'goals'.
stop thinking that you're depressed.
that you're suicidal.
here's another fact:
if you know that you are, you're not.
—
hi, we're all human.
some of us are just more broken than others.
so let me tell you one more fact:
20 percent of teens experience depression at some point of time.
and let me tell you a not-fact:
they're not faking.
—
after watching thirteen reasons why i needed an outlet to explain to people that depression is not cool. it hurts. i don't have it, but i know people who do.
suicide help line number for the u.s.: 1-800-273-8255