Word of ElleSkell
Holistic Life Writer
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Volunteer Your Soul
Where even the brightest light shines like diamonds in the sun, so too will there dwell darkness. You cannot have one without the other, yet the key to life is finding the power in both and straddling the line between the two.
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I spent most of my life chasing the things that made me feel good, and almost entirely in an external fashion which served no one other than myself.
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I recognize now this very practice was a willful act against shining my light. It was also a willful act of ignoring my darkness, allowing it to fester inside until the inevitable explosion rendered me useless.
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By the time the dark had gotten too big, there was nothing left for me to do except surrender to it.
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The battle that followed was how I learned just how powerful my light truly is.
Image is property of IMAlive Crisis Chat. Taken April 2017 @ Seattle Supernatural Convention
Understanding others, no matter how far away from us and our own spectrums of belief, is paramount to finding true joy in life.
Often angels aren’t other-worldly beings at all, but people who grace our lives and touch us with kindness. Sometimes these people make us hurt in huge ways, because our pain is so deep within us it feels like even a tiny bit of understanding would destroy us.
Acts of kindness come in many forms, and it is through service to humanity I was able to find, hold, and shine my light outward—even in the midst of the greatest darkness I will ever know in this life.
Currently, I volunteer my time and joyful energy to two incredible facilities: 1) A local nursing facility and 2) IMAlive, the first of its kind internet-based chat used for suicide intervention, prevention, and education.
In our society, senior citizens are often ignored and banished out of sight as though their lives are no longer useful. Our elderly paved the way before us, and have knowledge and life stories that make me laugh and cry and understand this world is so much bigger than we are as individuals, and that humanity comes in many different shapes and sizes, and from many different origins. I have seen this more clearly through my senior volunteer work than in any other situation.
Sometimes we won’t agree with other people, but we can show kindness and try to understand how their origins shaped their belief systems and life path.
Suicide awareness and prevention is a much needed focus across the globe, but particularly in America. The statistics are mind-blowing, and I believe strongly in the role suicide prevention, awareness, and education has on our individual society, as well as the global one, and enjoy every minute of my work with IMAlive Crisis Chat.
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Artwork by Paul Skelley, entitled "The Ruins." Copyright Paul Skelley. All rights reserved.
