This is a challenging post for me. But I believe it is important that I am real, raw and open.

Here’s the truth: I recently had the honour to speak at a National Hope Talks (NHT) event, giving my mental health story in a five-minute talk. I have been invited to speak at events like this since the 2017 release of the film I wrote and directed called, “Are You Listening? A Pathway to Empathy”. However, the way in which I articulated a part of my story and how it was shared on social media had a negative impact on my family. I felt embarrassed, powerless and ashamed.

Although this event was highly impactful and I felt grateful to have had the opportunity to tell my story, I failed in some key ways:

  • I did not remember that every part of a talk is fair game for social sharing.
  • I forgot that context is everything.

Here’s how it unfolded:

NHT filmed the event and selected one short clip of each speaker’s talk to share on social media. When the clip of my talk was released, I shared it as I do all social coverage of my projects. The video got good exposure; the piece was potent and specifically spoke very deeply to many viewers. However, as an unintended consequence, many of my family and family friends who saw this for the first time thought it sounded like I was blaming and disrespecting my dear parents.

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When my brother contacted me about this, I was deeply grieved. The timing of this could not have been worse! My Dad passed away just a couple of months ago. We have been so impacted by this profound loss and did not need to go through any more pain. Also, nothing could be farther from the truth! I have worked tirelessly to therapeutically take responsibility for my mental health journey while also honouring and respecting my family throughout the process. They gave me so much and did the best they could. I would not be who I am today without them.

What I did next and what I learned:

I immediately took the video off of my social because the reality is that I messed up. I left one sentence vulnerable to misinterpretation by leaving it less responsible in my talk and through the sharing of it on social, hurt the people I care about most.

Reflecting on this, I believe my talk was responsible as a whole, but this has taught me that when writing or presenting about my story, it is paramount I am diligent to take extra care. Everything I say can be shared on social. So all my statements need to be responsible. Otherwise, they can be left to interpretation. Context is everything.

I want to thank my dear brother, Dale, for bringing this to my attention in such a loving caring forgiving way. And thank you to my dear Mom for her hugs of love and forgiveness too. I love you both so much. I will not forget this experience ever. It has crystallized for me how powerful words and stories can be. I hope that by sharing this, it will help others  to be more prepared than I was.

If you are someone I have recently offended, I apologize deeply and humbly. Please call or email me to talk. I care and want to hear you.