Hey all, we’re gonna intro a new feature called: #SameHere Shares, tonight’s being the first. The concept is simple – many members of our celebrity & influencer Alliances are gifted beyond the skills you most know them for. Some are artists, poets, musicians, gifted writers, etc. Because they are so engaged & wanting to contribute actively towards breaking down these stigmas once & for all, they will be providing us w their works “#SameHere Shares” we can use in social & on our website (in the #SameHere Hero section for now), to show our growing “Crazy” community how much they relate to, & understand, the world of mental health.
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For our first Share, welcome again, @imanitrishawn who plays center for the Atlanta Dream of the WNBA, was an All-Rookie Team selection, & is a star player overseas in China. You may have remembered her towering over me in a previous pic we posted 
at a mtg in NYC! Not only is Imani a gifted basketball player, but she’s a tremendous poet as well. She uses her poetry to connect w others, & as a therapy for herself.
Two of her works are shared below. The first piece, as she describes, is more “gritty & to the point” & the other more “poetic.” She’s versatile like that! We look forward to sharing more of the contributions of our gifted Alliance members as this feature grows!
First Poem: “The Artsy One”
Healing
You won’t realize how far you’ve come
Until one day
The pain won’t be there anymore
It will be foreign
No longer comforting
It will be replaced with a smile
Or something more genuine
You won’t know whether to label this feeling happiness
Because that is something that has always been fleeting for you
And you won’t want to let this feeling go so easily
You will learn to be okay with being more firework than atom bomb
More bark than bite
This softness suits you
The weight of that armor was never yours to carry
You should have never had to protect yourself that way
Learning what love truly feels like will be a difficult process
It will mean unlearning the abuse that has tricked you for years
Un-burying your heart
And trusting
This has never come easy for you
But I promise you are up for the challenge
Second Poem: “The Gritty One”
I have an uncanny ability of standing
Even when life is trying its damnedest to knock me down
Of smiling
When all I truly want to do is break
Hide
From everything
But the thing about life is it keeps going
Even on days you wish it wouldn’t
On days when the clouds feel so low you’re sure the darkness will swallow you whole
But the sun will rise
Another day will come
And you will be there.
Still.