Bethany Hamm and I have known each other since Kindergarten. It’s true. While we’ve lived in different cities since then, we managed to stay in touch. I greatly admire Bethany’s creativity, vulnerability, and desire for justice. I am deeply thankful for her friendship and honored to share her post with you today, about an organization very close to her heart.
I first was introduced to To Write Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA) several years ago while packing to move from Charleston, SC. My roommate at the time was on the To Write Love website and told me I needed to check them out, that I’d really dig what they had to say. I told her I’d never heard their music before.
I had always seen TWLOHA shirts sported by musicians and so I had assumed they were some kind of underground band that I wasn’t cool enough to have heard yet. Little did I know, they were a movement that was changing the world.
The simplest synopsis of TWLOHA that I’ve memorized over my years of volunteering is that To Write Love on Her Arms is a non-profit organization that exists to offer hope and find help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide.
The reason why I am so passionate about To Write Love, and why my roommate knew I’d rally behind the cause, is because of my own struggles with depression and suicide. In addition, I’ve personally witnessed what deep and difficult addictions can do to those you love and care about. I am passionate about TWLOHA because, having walked through the things I have, I now know the importance of not fighting our battles alone. U2 owns one of my favorite lyrics, “We get to carry each other.” That’s To Write Love for me; a movement of people choosing to be intentional all while carrying each other through the trials and joys of this life.
Learn more about the movement at www.twloha.com
Bethany Hamm writes both a personal and a social justice blog. You can also follow her on twitter.
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Nicely done Bethany. Love you girl.