October 10th marked the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Walk in Austin, TX. As part of the Cenpatico Team, a major sponsor of the walk, I was proud of what we had done up to that point. We had set a company wide goal of raising $5000. By the morning of the walk we had obliterated that goal, raising over $7500.

Still that was only the first step. As important as raising money is, what makes the NAMI Walk even more special is the second, and more important step; the walk itself. The picture created by a crowd of people walking down the street can be just as, if not more powerful than any monetary donation.

The reason NAMI has this walk is to create that picture because one of NAMI’s goals is to raise awareness and end stigma.

Stigma is, in a better word: Fear.

Stigma and fear are dangerous barriers because they cast such giant shadows. They cast shadows over those who suffer from a mental illness stopping them from getting help. They cast shadows over loved ones of the sufferer. They cast shadows over the community as it causes those that don’t understand to shun, to pre-judge, to turn away, or to ignore. Stigma and fear cast a shadow far greater than any illness itself.

Seasons in Austin, TX don’t consist of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. They consist of hot and cold. On the morning of Saturday October 10 it was the cold that greeted the city; the first to really hit Texas. As I parked my car and started to walk to the gathering point, (while wearing shorts no less) I started to wonder how many people of the hundreds expected would show up. It would have been very easy to pull up the covers in bed.

But what greeted me when I reached the starting line was anything but cold. What was there were things much warmer and much stronger: Hope, Drive, and Togetherness.

Already before dawn participants had started to arrive, bringing along friends, family, and pets. By the time the walk had started hundreds of people had arrived to take part.
All of us there for the same purpose: to show how easily stigma and fear can be defeated.

On the walk itself, I looked around at my fellow walkers sharing smiles and hugs, holding signs, walking side by side in what could be better described as a parade than a walk. There was no stigma here; no fear.

We all proudly walked the streets downtown up to the capitol building. The walk past the government building brought thoughts of another politician; President Franklin D. Roosevelt whose words rang true for the message us walkers conveyed that day. “We have nothing to fear, but fear itself.”

As I finished the walk and sat to eat with my fellow walkers, I noticed something else. That something was missing through the whole morning and afternoon….no shadows.

Hope. Drive. Togetherness. It is these that lead to the three most important words in mental illness: Recovery. Resiliency. Results.

Tags: behavioral, celebration, community, health, hope, illness, mental, mental illness, NAMI, recovery, resiliency, results, walk
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