Event uses storytelling
to create healing paths
Creating and telling stories is a universal art, and a method of relating to others. We as humans know this on an intuitive level, and our brains have a natural ability to make meaning through stories. When we intentionally engage in the art of story making and sharing, we are engaging our innate ability to connect and heal in community.
Mental health is one of those subjects that is difficult to talk about, even still today. Severe mental illness comes with the stigma of being broken, damaged, etc. and even less severe conditions -- everyday depression, anxiety, stress -- still leave us feeling like we're not good enough, not trying hard enough, not able to cope in a way that we feel we should. Even though one in three of us is affected by it, much of the time we pretend that mental health issues are something that "other people" have, so that we don't have to carry the weight of that stigma.
That, in part, is why This Is My Brave was created. This Is My Brave is an organization that helps create storytelling events in which people living with, or affected by, mental illness can tell their stories in front of an audience. As a producer of this show in Northwest Arkansas for the second year now, I can tell you it is a powerful healing experience for everyone -- the participants, the producers and the audience alike. There is something healing and connective when we open up about our struggles: It unites us, it builds empathy for each other, and it drives that stigma away, allowing us to be seen and heard and know that there are others like us, others with the same story, the same struggles and the same triumphs.
The Bentonville Counseling Collective is a proud producer of This Is My Brave, which will hold its third annual performance at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3 at the Waterway Church in Bentonville. Nine brave cast members will share their stories of living with mental illness through their essays, poems, songs, comedy and visual art. It is sure to be a powerful experience and we hope you'll attend.
Jason LeCompte
Bentonville
Commentary on 09/23/2019