When tasked with the job of planning high school reunions, it’s unfortunate that your superiors neglect to tell you how tragic the process can be. In just over a year, I’ll be sitting at my computer on various social media platforms, yearbook in hand, to reconnect with the 450-some members of my high school graduating class. I’ll be sending invitations to the first of all too many high school reunions, a gathering that I personally dread for the sheer fact that so many won’t be joining us. There are members of my class and others close to us that will not be in attendance whose presence will be noted and severely missed. Unfortunately, there are others that not one person of the reunion attendees will realize is missing, or that I never had the pleasure of knowing in our adolescence. In the four years since graduation, I’ve watched our senior class dwindle in number at an alarming rate – and watched surrounding grade levels decline at an even faster pace. All too many of these individuals lost their lives by way of their own hand and decisions. I can’t begin to imagine the places someone must reach to feel so isolated from such a vibrant world, that death or other fatal means of escape become viable options. I wish that no one I know ever feels so alone that they resort to such measures, and that no one believes life is so intolerable that they choose to end their own life or act in such a way that pushes them to their physical limits. I know that we have an opportunity now, in the hyperconnected society in which we live, to belittle and undercut others in ways our parents never dreamed of, but there are so many new options for those contemplating self-harm to seek solace in our earthly home. I’m not sure what comes next, but we have a duty to better our surroundings in preparation for those who will inhabit it in the future. I think I do my best to live most days to my fullest potential and to contribute to my overall well-being and happiness – whether that takes the shape of a community service project or lying on my couch on a Netflix binge. I’m not sure if the answer is as simple as texting your mom or hugging your cousin or writing an appreciative note to your neighbor or former teacher to stop this vicious cycle of self-destruction that continues to plague our country, but I know it has to help. Our generation has often been reduced to Instagram feeds and retweets, but it’s possible that little inklings of support in these avenues contribute to someone’s happiness. Not to diminish us to likes or favorites, it’s time that we accept all of the resources we are given to build each other up at a micro level.
It’s true that you never really know the limits of others or your own until you’ve pushed too far. Sometimes, that push is permanent and there is no opportunity for recovery. I hope that everyone I know is able to find their own peace, whatever shape that may take, and channel their energies into something positive and life-giving rather than perpetuating an image of a generation in turmoil. Perhaps that’s what we are, but we are likewise in possession of the means to change not only the equilibrium within ourselves, but also to renegotiate the spaces in which we communicate our emotions and frustrations. I keep hearing that there are “hard” things to talk about, but we cannot be a generation that allows words to triumph over action and love. Words are our ally, and if we work to devalue those that marginalize, uplift those that support, and incorporate the ones that are taboo into our conversations, hopefully so many individuals across the country will no longer feel alone. Depression knows no face or no single identity, but it does become more prevalent when we step outside of the mainstream heteronormative, gender- conforming, middle class sphere of being. Acknowledging the validity and worth of every individual, and finding solidarity across identities can improve the mental stability and well-being of our country as a whole. Thus, we must not shy away from topics that challenge our emotional comfort zone, but utilize the experiences of our brothers and sisters who have overcome darkness within as much as we fixate on the experiences of those who could not. While there is no need to create a spectacle of death, we must talk about the circumstances surrounding it at every turn. I usually believe education is the genesis of all true social change and empowerment, but the contributions of the academy have become so inaccessible to many who need it most. Educated is still an attribute of society’s elite, thus we must make use of our common platforms to humble ourselves and appreciate life in its simplest and rawest of forms. Allow yourself to celebrate the life you have at every avenue, and the lives of others, until they are taken by biological forces. We are all human, though too many tend to forget. Love yourself, love each other. It’s not so hard.
