By Tom Cramer
The self-help book section at stores is massive these days, which can make you feel either hopeful or hopeless depending on the situation. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the large selection and it can feel like nothing will help you if you have searched many times before. But it can also give you an opportunity to come up with something that helps if you are willing to keep searching. This is also true for the internet. The number of motivational speakers and life coaches that can be found on YouTube can make it seem like there is so much hope and no hope at all. When I found myself leaning towards the latter, I knew it was time for a reframe.
The search may seem tiring. Trust me, I get that feeling to my core. The days of feeling little relief after trying to find solutions has left me hopeless often, but after a lot of reading and scrolling, the right “inspirational speaker” came on my screen. Her name is Tabitha Brown. After not finding what I was looking for, a friend sent me a YouTube video of her at a time when I needed it on a deep level. This made me follow her YouTube channel and pick up her book called Feeding the Soul (Because It’s My Business): Finding Our Way to Joy, Love, and Freedom.
I just finished reading her book for the second time. It always picks me up within minutes. I found my person and you can too. At first, this was going to be a book review until I realized something way more profound. A book review was not what seemed important to write about now. It was instead the concept of hope and how important it is that we keep going no matter what happens. It’s about still having hope after searching and searching for answers. This is a key element to many things in life. We can find hope in politics. We can find hope in music. We can find hope in a community setting such as at NAMI meetings. This is where I have found stories that inspire me or make me feel less alone. The word hope is so overused and makes me tired all over again to use it, but wow is it vital to moving forward.
Maybe it’s finding a few people you can relate to at least somewhat until you find that person that speaks to your soul. Maybe it’s finding that person and sprinkling in others throughout your day and week to keep it fresh and interesting. In the words of Tabitha Brown, “That’s YOUR business.” Keep in mind that while it can be a lot of work and frustration at times, the relief you were hoping for could just be that next video or book away.
NAMI’s mission is providing hope to people struggling with a mental health condition and their family and friends. Without hope, it makes the dark path we’re walking on get even darker. There is truly an epidemic going on in this world when it comes to mental health, and that is why I believe there are now so many books and videos to look through. It may seem like overload, but maybe we can look at it a different way. It shows how many people care and want to help, and that we can find people we connect with even if we don’t connect with every person out there.
Finding what feeds our souls is important to giving us hope. It also works the opposite way. Having hope that you’ll find something that helps will get you closer to finding what feeds your soul. As Tabitha Brown would say, “That is very good.”
Writing has always been one of Tom’s biggest passions. He graduated with his degree from Eastern Michigan University in Communication, Media and Theatre Arts with a minor in Journalism. He’s struggled with mental health for most of his life and writing has gotten him through some of the darkest times he’s experienced.