October 30, 2011
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Is It Brave?
The news about a pending new addition to my family was somewhat tinged by tragedy. An indirect member of my family committed suicide a couple of days ago. I don’t know the circumstances as yet as one of my siblings had to rush off with the partner.
When this was mentioned to one of my friends, I was shocked by her reaction: she thought “it was brave to find the courage to end one’s life cos of the misery you feel”. My reaction? What. The. Fuck? How is it brave to take one’s own life? Granted, my friend is still recovering from her breakup of a long term relationship at the beginning of the year and might not be thinking rationally. I wasn’t prepared for her disclosure that suicide had entered her thoughts a few months ago. Fear of the pain and how messy it might be prevented her from committing the act. Her girlfriends dragged her to the doctor and enrolled her for counselling sessions. Unfortunately counselling is not covered by the private health insurance provided by her new company that she started employment with last month.
I’m beginning to fear that morbid tendencies might be creeping back into her train of thought as a result. She’d commented suicide would be easier with a gun and that she has “respect for those that can go through with it.” In an effort to help her, I’d revealed something personal that only a couple of people know about and since it was a long time ago I no longer have any reservations about such a disclosure. I myself was suicidal when I was 18-19 years old. I was suffering from depression at the time. Thoughts about the methods of ending it all and where constantly plagued my mind.
My friend is now being mildly dismissive, telling me she “is going through something that I probably never had before.”
She has always been a vivacious person, at least on the surface, and I hope she will emerge from her dark period soon.
Where Have I Been?
Since my last travel blog was about the trip to Mexico and Miami in September 2010, and the sheer volume of photos accumulated since then, I have decided to just post one or a couple of pics of the destinations I have visited since that time. Those who are friends with me on Facebook have access to all those photos.
Thailand
Havana, Cuba
Havana, Cuba
Havana, Cuba
Havana, Cuba
Havana, Cuba
Vinales, Cuba
Cienfuegos, Cuba
Trinidad, Cuba
Trinidad, Cuba
Trinidad, Cuba
New York
New York
Los Angeles
Brussels, Belgium
Brussels, Belgium
Bruges, Belgium
Bruges, Belgium
Paris
Paris
Venice
Venice
Verona, Italy
Barcelona
Barcelona
Haunting
Lana del Rey has replaced A Fine Frenzy as my favourite artist with the melodic haunting voice
Happy Halloween!
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Tropa de Elite 2 [Blu-Ray] – NO ENGLISH
By Wagner Moura, Irandhir Santos, Andre Ramiro
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Comments (13)
If your friend thinks it is brave, she is probably thinking about it herself.
Your friend needs some help; please direct her to counseling, suicide prevention centers, etc. and let her know that suicide is a very permanent solution to an otherwise temporary problem. While I respect that people should be able to decide for themselves what to do with their body, I don’t see that suicide is a brave option.
definitely not brave, but the opposite. chris has the right advice on top.
on another note – your photos are getting more awesome each time i see them!
You took such nice photos.
Suicide is an interesting route. Personally, I prefer to endure and learn from whatever I experience. Committing suicide has crossed my mind several times as a teen. However, my mother, my goals, and my friends helped me retain my sanity. The support of people facilitated my recovery.
She has to want others’ support, and the only way to accomplish that is reminding her she’s not alone. I would comfort and talk to her, distract her mind from constantly reliving the past. You can simply teach her to let go of the past. That would help a lot.
One relationship is not the end-all-be-all; I should know because I’ve been in a number of failed relationships, and I’m still swimming through the mud.
The sad truth is that once someone is gone it’s forever.
Humanity sometimes bears too much pain, so I hope your friend perseveres.
I can’t speak for all people, but I’m sure a lot of people go through a serious depression at some point in there life. I know I have, and even when it was really bad and suicide crossed my mind, in the end, I knew suicide would not be an option, nor did I think it was brave, more like an easy way out. Brave is to face your pain and problems and deal with it, and come out for the better. I hope your friend is going to be okay, but keep an eye on her, and check in with her every now and then. What Chris said is right, she needs help. We had a suicide in our family, and I know it’s very hard. I hope your family is going to be okay and get through this. All the best of luck… =/
I love the photos.
SO sorry to hear that news David.
have you thought about communicating to your friend that you know what she’s going through b/c you’ve gone through it yourself? it’s easy to dismiss or question when people say things when someone’s depressed, but if she knew that you yourself went through it… she may be more receptive to you reaching out. it seems like she’s crying out for help in her own way.
In her mind she thinks it is brave. I hope she does pull through the counselling and recovers as well.
My condolences on the tragedy just before your sis’ wedding.
Love your travel pics as always. They’re so beautiful and inspiring. Thank you for sharing them!
@o0_Gina_0o - @caki730 - @christao408 - @TheTheologiansCafe - my friends seem to be back to her normal self. Thank you all!
@ungrandvoyage - Thanks for the compliment! I’m hoping to improve further.
@oxyGENE_08 - Thanks! If you’re on Facebook then you can view a lot more!
@Fongster8 - Yeah. Do you post a link here?
@Fongster8 - Glad to hear she’s doing better!
Seems you have traveled around the whole world.