Journey of the Heart

(EDITOR'S NOTE: I am sharing this beautiful message by poet Kai Coggin again today, after Kate Spade's  tragic death, to give hope to all those thinking about ending their lives right now. If you ned help, please call the National Suicide Hotline: 800- 273- 8255. Your life is a gift to the world. We need you here. Please never forget that.) To keep going is sometimes both the hardest and easiest step to take out of darkness... It may not look like a promise to smile, or to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and conquer the world today …  it is just a gentle nudge of Spirit, it is holding your head just above water for one more moment, one more hour, one more day, until there is no longer the struggle to keep going, you just unshakably ARE.  Suicide was a lying shadow of escape that lingered in my life for years. Today, I am thankful to be able to say that I no longer have those thoughts of permanent escape. I no longer lend myself to the darkness in...

(Editors note: Today begins   National Suicide Prevention Week.  The poems we feature this week are meant to contribute to raising awareness toward this cause. All are welcome to participate) Dark moments, I have had many… Times where I never wanted to awaken, knowing, the trying times ahead. But with each passing day I choose to carry on in hopes of a brighter tomorrow. I tune into my breath and the beauty in nature, believing I can and I do matter to someone…even if that someone is just me. Artwork by Amanda Cass Even in the Darkest Moments by Kim Buskala "Let me hold your hand" I hear them say Even when I am so far away Keep me in your prayers I promise I will Not a day passes I am with you still My mother, my father A saint from a far Some random person I met in a bar They've reached out I've reached up Closing my eyes Remembering their power Deep inside They told me I could I told them I would Kee...

(Editors note: This is   National Suicide Prevention Week.  The poems we feature this week are meant to contribute to raising awareness toward this cause. All are welcome to participate) This thing I call Depression with a capital 'D' is no light topic, and is often taboo... So even more is the topic of suicide and suicidality, which plagues many with depression.  I started to talk to my Depression as a teenager, but only very recently have shared some of the writings of dark despair. This piece, written more recently, helps reflect on what Depression has taken, and how I must drown out its voice...banish it out of my head and heart. How I must reclaim what was stolen and find joy in it.  Always, please know there are those who have been there, and that you and we, we are not alone. Depression Lies by Julia W. Prentice It is a Liar first Whispering nasty stories in your head “You will never be enough” It ...

(Editors note: It is  National Suicide Prevention Week. The poems we feature this week are meant to contribute to raising awareness toward this cause. All are welcome to participate) Six years ago I touched the edge of wanting to live my last breath... My mind cradled the thought of suicide. The depression was so deep, it felt like I was drowning in unforgivable sorrow and I literally wanted it to end. It was when I was still trying to heal my marriage of 20 years and knowing the sinking and horrible feeling that my husband did not love me any more and wanted to be with someone else.  Though the pain was relentless, I was fortunate enough to have family and friends see it. I had to make a choice, and I chose life. I decided to take a soul quest to the red woods, a quest to find my passion for living and it came back to me.  If there is one thing I could share with you that you must know, the light of love is always with you, your soul holds the flam...