In the 1990’s Collective Soul made a music video called “The World I Know.” In the video, a man walks through the streets of New York City aimlessly in despair. He carries a briefcase and walks despondently in a black and white world with no hope. When I watched this man in the video for the first time I was a teenager in high school fighting clinical depression and I was losing that battle. I felt hopeless, I was lost, I was that man in “The World I Know.”
I watched as the man stepped onto the ledge of a building. He was about to take his own life. He closed his eyes. The tears streamed down his face. All at once a bird landed on his arm. He opened his eyes and smiled. The screen turned from dull black and white to color. The man began to laugh as he fed the bird bits of bread.
And it was then that I realized…that there is hope. I was going to be okay. I was going to survive. I could continue to live.
Hope is key. Hope is incredibly powerful. When we are deeply depressed we lose touch with hope. Mental health recovery and hope are intertwined.
It sure is.