Hey there! I’m Inali, the Spoken Word Poet Laureate at mindyourmind. The other day I had the opportunity to volunteer at an event called “Clara’s Big Ride”. The premise is that Clara Hughes, 6-time Olympic medalist in cycling and speed skating, will ride all around and across the country stopping many times along the way to tell her story of living with depression. Clara was an AMAZING speaker, very genuine and full of excitement.
I really appreciate how transparent she was about her past, explaining that she was energetic, but that energy often went into “delinquency”. When she started becoming more active she felt the effects of smoking and decided to quit. She even spoke about how her first two medals in the summer Olympics represented struggle for her, bringing awareness that success and wellness do not looks the same for everyone. “It’s not about me. The only reason I’ve shared my story is to take that tiny baby step of breaking down the stigma attached to depression,” says Hughes.
There was also a great local speaker and mindyourmind volunteer named Paige Lawson, who is now an editor at CTV News Toronto. She talked about about having anxiety in school, and how even now when she does speaks in the community she has come across old classmates who had no idea of the struggles she had been going through. Paige Lawson has clear objectives: “I want to help reduce the stigma of mental illness so students are not afraid to acknowledge that they may struggle from anxiety and so teachers and staff can better understand and support students going through this.”
After Clara and Paige spoke there were great discussions had about what mental health stigma was, what positive and negative examples could be found in the media, and how the students present could go back to their respective schools to make change and encourage mental wellness. Many great ideas were had at the tables, and I hope to be hearing about the great projects coming out of these schools soon!