Exercise, community, and writing, helped me through the hardest time in my life.
When my Dad died from suicide, I adopted a set of coping mechanisms that would hold me together for 9 years… but when my Mum was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer, they were shattered… leaving me rudderless and in a constant state of fight or flight.
I found reprieve in exercise, I found support through community, and I found a way forward through writing... and as I overcame my struggle, I found other people who’d been through their own, other people who’d become stronger versions of themselves.
I was reminded of this when someone from our community forwarded an article about Winston Churchill… Not because I’m a former Prime Minister... But, because throughout the 1920s, Winston Churchill suffered from depression… finding reprieve in bricklaying and writing.
“I have had a delightful month building a cottage and dictating a book: 200 bricks and 2000 words a day.”
I’m sure there’s more to it, but this bloke had architected the doomed Gallipoli campaign, served on the Western Front during WWI, and understandably, this combination of failure, loss, and exposure to war, must have left its mark on him.
But… he found a way forward...
“Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never”
Churchill would go on to be Prime Minister of Great Britain in their darkest hour, and while his personal story can shed light on the way forward through individual struggle... I can’t help but notice something else.
Something that can help Canberra become suicide-free.
In 1940, German forces bombed London for 57 consecutive nights, aiming to shatter British morale. Throughout the campaign though, the opposite happened, seemingly embodying a previous speech Churchill made, that came to define British resolve…
“We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” ⁶
His speech illuminated an identity that formed the backbone of a country... showing how strong a community can be when everyone draws strength from each other and the shared belief they hold.
The belief in ourselves and our ability to overcome and endure hardship helps us through our own struggles. And as we find other people with that shared belief, it becomes hardened and validated… providing people evidence of a blueprint that works.
As our community of people who believe in the ability to overcome grows, our belief that no one is destined for suicide also grows... and before long, it can become a culture that doesn’t stand for it.
The perfect foundation for a suicide-free Canberra.