I like to think I’ve been pretty open about my mental illness struggle and my path to recovery. I got to a place where I recognized that there are lots of people who are struggling like me and I wanted to add my voice to the fight for understanding and acceptance but not everyone is like me. A lot of people who are struggling don’t wear their hearts on their sleeves and don’t want to join the fight.
And that’s okay.
No one owes anybody their story – recovery is a deeply personal experience and it requires a lot of soul-searching. I’ve always (always) been an over-sharer so it felt very natural for me to start a blog and talk to everybody I’ve ever met about my experience. And we’re lucky to have such a loving community of people who want to share but just because someone shared their story with you, it doesn’t mean that you have to share back if you don’t want to. And it’s okay if you don’t want to!
Your recovery is yours and you don’t owe anybody (except maybe your therapist) an explanation for how you’re going through it. Do it however you have to and if you get to a point where you want to share, find whatever platform speaks to you. You never have to get to that point – every path is different.
I will love and support you even if you don’t want to share your story with me or anybody else. You don’t owe me or anybody else your story. I’m proud of you no matter what.
The Life of a Mourning Dove 