Hi, I'm Caitlin. And I'm a suicide attempt survivor.
I know firsthand what it feels like to suffer in silence. To be too scared to reach out, too exhausted to explain, too convinced that nobody would really get it anyway. I've sat in that place more than once. Three times, actually.
But I've also learned, slowly and not always gracefully, that when you do open up and share your story, there are people out there who will hold it with so much care. People who will listen without looking away, without fixing, without judgment. That changed everything for me.
I've taken everything I've been through and tried to build something useful out of it. I work in suicide prevention now as a licensed social worker, and I show up every day for people who are where I've been. My story walks alongside me in that work constantly. Literally, because I have the word stay tattooed on the inside of my wrist. It's there for the days when the doubts creep back in and I need the reminder. It still does its job.
Staying is the bravest thing you can do. It doesn't always feel brave. Sometimes it just feels like getting through the next hour. But if you've made it this far, I am so incredibly proud of you.
I built this space to be somewhere you can come for strength, for comfort, for community. To read someone else's story and feel it in your chest and think: that's me, I'm not the only one. Because you're not. You are not alone in this. Not even a little bit.
my reminder. always.