Mental health illness and its issues won’t be far from my mind ever. Never ever again.

Last month a friend I had been close to about 4 years ago, killed himself.

And then Kate Spade, the fashion icon, killed herself. And then Anthony Bourdain, the internationally renowned chef, writer and speaker killed himself.

They all did it and they all are gone. They are not here.

I’ve been spending time in my day to remind myself – I am here. That is something to be grateful for. I look over at my family and my friends. They are here. We are okay.

I am trying to be present as present can be. Sometimes I fall away from that and sometimes I snap to it.

Either way, present or not, I am here. And I am not going.

Mental health to me also is connected to aging. As we grow and get older, we hopefully are still learning and we are definitely soaking in our experiences, good and bad. And with aging, with ourselves growing older and with our family and friends growing older, some of it – a good portion of it – is bad.

So read this about agelessness and maybe some of it will show you some good and make you happy.

http://elle.in/culture/zadie-smith-swing-time-interview-elle-cover/