I hope we smile

This is a gentle note, filled with kindness and love. It is a note I write; with my peers in mind.

People with psychosocial disabilities, users, ex-users of psychiatry; mad people, users of mental health services. Those who hear voices, those who experience so much sadness and pain; and sometimes go to heights of ecstasy, and often times, just in between.

Those who like me, experience intense moments of fear; moments of self doubt, moments filled with longings and yearnings of what perfection would mean.

I think of you all with fondness and kindness. I think of us. I hope we find moments, such as this, to see that, in a world that is overwhelming; a world that’s too fast, a world that can drown our voices…. I hope we remember, that we are not alone.

Because we are the dream carriers. We carry dreams and hopes of millions, who just like us, hope for ends to oppression. An end to naysayers who think we amount to nothing. We carry the dreams and hopes of a past, ridden with pain and angst.

We pause in the present, in the fullness of time; we recharge.

And we go into the future. Stronger in a hope that binds us together. A knowledge that we are enough.

All our lives. I hope we find love, in the storm. May we be held steady on shaky ground. I hope we smile, I hope we laugh, I hope we see the silver lining in the dark cloud.

I hope we smile.