This past March, my debut romance young adult novel PROM THEORY was published by Simon and Schuster. I took a leap with this book by making my main character a young woman with a little known learning disorder — NonVerbal Learning Disorder.
“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” –Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
“We come back [out of the grips of a depression] . . . as survivors. Survivors who don’t get pats on the back from coworkers who congratulate them on making it. Survivors who wake to more work than before because their friends and family are exhausted from helping them fight a battle they may not even understand. I hope to one day see a sea of people all wearing silver ribbons as a sign that they understand the secret battle, and as a celebration of the victories made each day as we individually pull ourselves up out of our foxholes to see our scars heal, and to remember what the sun looks like.” –Jenny Lawson
“Vulnerability is actually a strength and not a weakness–that’s why more and more mental health is such an important thing to talk about. It’s the same as being physically sick. And when you keep all those things inside, when you bottle them up, it makes you ill.” –Cara Delevingne
“Dear Person With Mental illness,
You are not a monster. You are a valuable, unique, wonderful human being who deserves everything grand that this life has to offer. Come out of the shadows and stand proudly in who you are. You are not damaged. You are whole, regardless of having a mental illness. I like you the way you are. I wouldn’t change you. I see you differently than you see yourself. I am not afraid of you or your illness . . . I am amazed by you. I am amazed by your courage, willpower, gifts, and talents. I accept you, and your worlds of light and darkness.” –Rachel Griffin
“You look at me and cry; everything hurts. I hold you and whisper: but everything can heal.” –Rupi Kaur
“Before I was formally introduced to my anxiety, I called it by a bunch of other names–nervousness, weakness, timidity. Employers called it laziness, distractedness, and ‘not being a team player.’ My ex called it clinginess. My mother called it oversensitivity and immaturity. But we were all wrong, and learning that we were all wrong, that there was an actual medical thing going on, overwhelmed me because it meant that it wasn’t a tornado of character flaws that landed me where I was. The problem was not that Ii simply chose not to be ‘normal,’ that I allowed my fears, baseless as they may have been, to conquer and dictate so much of my life. The problem was my brain. It was a chemical imbalance, something physical, not imagined.” –Tracy Clayton
“If you stay alive for no other reason at all, please do it for spite.” – Maria Bamford, Comedian
If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living. Gail Sheehy, American Author, Journalist
They say depression has tripled in the United States since the start of the pandemic, with corresponding increases in suicide rates, domestic abuse, and addictions. If you’re feeling down or even desperate, and scrolling through puppy pictures just isn’t enough for you, consider teaching a dog a trick. And here’s why:
