This weekend I said goodbye to a place I had called a home at one point in the past 11 years. In this place there was both good and bad times. In the good times showed times of strength and love as a family; while in the bad times it was a time of cruelty and hate. It was a bittersweet feeling to say goodbye as I will remember the fun times had there but the hatred that overpowered there made me extremely happy to be leaving.

On another note. I got my semicolon tattoo on Saturday as well. A small tidbit about me is that I’m a survivor of a mental health illness known as depression. I had been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and mild depression in the past. I had an internal struggle most of my life, this struggle consisted of wanting to end my life or to continue to live in the skin that I hated to be in. I had cut my body to be able to feel anything but what I was currently feeling. I used it as an escape from my state of mind. Then there was one day when someone thanked me for making a difference in their life. She had told me that if it wasn’t for me, she wouldn’t have been able to see the strength within herself to continue living and live a life she wanted no matter the cost. That’s when I realized if this girl who had been given a crappy life at such a young age, can do it so can I.

From that point I continued to fight my own demons and with that battle I had people give up on me and I also had people stick by me and support me no matter the cost. It was because of these people that I was able to find my strength and confidence that had been missing for years. I was able to find and be me again. With this I decided to write a book. A book about a similar internal struggle, with my research I had found a foundation called the semicolon project and the semicolon tattoo project. This foundation offered support to those who are struggling with depression, anxiety, or any situation they may be in. They offer anyone to have someone to talk to just to have someone available. They remind those who are going through this that they are not alone. There are people around out there that care. So I got my semicolon tattoo to remind myself how far I’ve come and to remind myself how strong I am no matter the cost. A picture of my tattoo can be found on Facebook at Facebook.com/authorstephaniemolina or on instagram: stephaniemolina_

I leave you with this, just remember that you are stronger than you give yourself credit for.

Until next time,

Stephanie