Project Semicolon

For many people, happiness does not come easily, and for some of those, living does not always seem like an option. Project Semicolon is a suicide awareness organization that promotes the simple message that life is worth living and that there is always more to a person’s story, even in face of terrible despair. This group adopted the symbol of a semicolon because it is used by writers to indicate that a sentence continues; just as the Project Semicolon organization wants those struggling with mental illness to fight for their life stories to continue. This book is filled with the true stories of people brought to the brink by their despair. The short histories are written by actual victims of mental illness and are accompanied by artful pictures of their semicolon tattoos. This is a book that everyone, whether experienced with mental illness or not, should at least peruse. The certain knowledge that there are people out there who are battling demons like depression, bipolar disorder, PTSD, and dozens of other mental illnesses will give you pause. The clerk at your grocery store, your boss, the lady pumping gas across from you, your friend, each could be in terrible psychological pain. Mental illness does not discriminate, it affects all ages, all levels of education, every socioeconomic group, every race, … The message of this book, and the project that inspired it, is that no one with mental illness is alone; every life, every story, is worth continuing; and we can all live lives filled with joy and love. Every day that a person chooses to live, extends their story and enriches the stories of all the lives they touch. The pictures of the many authors’ semicolon tattoos are just as beautiful and awe inspiring as the words they write in testament to their endurance in the face of their mental and life challenges.