I first heard the mantra during freshman year. My pre-college self would have been all Fuck that shit, but my then-college self was on the losing side of depression and self-harm, and she was ready for answers:
Not as debilitating co-dependency, but as community, as safe spaces, and as mutual love.
I know I’ve written about this before—how we are all just one bleeding humanity. Maybe it’s on my mind again because my birthday is coming up and I get a little mushy because I’m still here, and I will never stop celebrating that.
But I can’t help but be baffled at the shit show that is the United States right now. What the fuck is this pigeon-holed politics that thinks no one else is important? That forgets that this is about people?
About real, living people.
Whether we’re talking about politicians, rioteers, or dreamers—humans were made for community.
If you don’t believe me, turn on the fucking news. We’re destroying ourselves from the inside because we don’t realize how much we fucking need each other.
How much emptiness there is when we put up walls.
When we don’t let people in.
Where are all the people?
PS: If you or someone you know is struggling with their mental health, call the Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255, or check out To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA), where you’ll find a community of honest people who made the brave decision to stay. Because their stories matter – and so does yours.
PPS: If you want to develop some empathy towards suicide, want to understand it a little better, or want to know that there’s someone else in the abyss with you, check out some poems I wrote. They’re rough and raw, so be gentle.
Mary's One Hundred 
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