And you asked me what it meant to me…

To many people it probably seems like I have a “To Write Love On Her Arms” shirt on every day.  Or every time they see me (because they see me once or twice a week).  While there are some of those people that know what it stands for and where it comes from, not everybody that sees it knows.  And they don’t all ask me either.  When I get the chance to tell them, they don’t necessarily get the personal side of why it’s so important to me.
The struggle with cutting hasn’t always had a voice.  It hasn’t always been acknowledge as a problem in the world.  Too many people, too many times, have turned away in disgust or embarrassment maybe at the simple mention.  I am not at all suggesting that by starting To Write Love On Her Arms, was anyone condoning the action.  It brought out a voice that maybe would have otherwise been forever silent.
Discovering this voice for those who struggle, whether now or in the past,  or who have yet to walk down this path of self-injury, has meant everything to me.  The opportunity share hope, spread love and walk through the struggle with someone else.  And hope that they will let me do what I wouldn’t let anyone do for me in the midst of my toughest times with this struggle.  Honestly fills me with more hope and desire than I sometimes know what to do with.
I wish I could find my own words to express about TWLOHA’s vision….but I can’t.  So I will just leave you with the link to that very vision and hope that it continues to catch on and spread like wildfire more than it has already! http://www.twloha.com/page.php?id=6

~ by avandeventer on July 4, 2009.