“I don’t have to know you to care about you” is a mantra that holds deep meaning for me. It embraces the idea that compassion is a limitless currency that we all possess; an abundant resource that we’re able to spend freely on anyone without reservation.

I have endured many significant challenges throughout my life. I feel that it is natural for us to compare our experiences to others, perhaps diminishing them in the process, when it may be more prudent and honest to compare the impacts of those experiences instead. After all, it is the impacts that we treat.

We tend to endure challenges individually; but surviving them is often difficult – if not impossible – without some level of support and intervention from others. “It takes a village to heal a village”, they say – and I believe what they say to be true.

Throughout my life there have been countless individuals who have helped build, populate, and maintain my village. Over the years they have selflessly offered gifts of compassion, dignity, and grace. They have been there to remind me not of who I once was – but who I am capable of being. They have empowered me by championing my triumphs and virtues and helped to re-frame my failures and misgivings as seasons of growth, learning, and maturity.

The greatest gift of them all, however, has been that of opportunity. Opportunities to feel safe. To be safe. Safe to heal, grow, try, fail, and persevere. Opportunities to find my words, and when lost, find them again. I have learned that we are all deserving of love and compassion, and that when our cups are full and runneth over, I have learned how to share the excess.

I have myself fallen – and watched others fall – through the proverbial cracks in our systems and supports. I have experienced workplaces, communities, social circles, and family structures that continue to perpetuate harmful stigmas and choose passivity – or at worst, wilful ignorance – over meaningful action. I have felt the hesitancy and trepidation to engage in difficult-yet-necessary conversations about mental health. I have myself known the fear of exploring authenticity and vulnerability.

There is a palpable urgency from those who continue to slip through the cracks. An urgency, it should be noted, that is also shared by those those who can’t bear to watch their loved ones slip further.

We should do better – because we can do better.

I have yet to find the words to fully express my gratitude for the countless incredible and inspiring individuals who share my village. So, after little deliberation, I have given up on trying to find those words.

I have, instead, chosen to take action. I wish to leave this world better than I found it. To leave the people that I connect with better for it. To build enduring villages filled with empowered people.

No, I don’t have to know you to care about you – just know that I do.

With gratitude,

Founder and CEO of VĪV Mental Health