{"id":17174,"date":"2015-12-17T20:02:37","date_gmt":"2015-12-18T01:02:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lisadelay.com\/blog\/?p=17174"},"modified":"2016-10-26T06:56:25","modified_gmt":"2016-10-26T10:56:25","slug":"eps-41-jennifer-michael-hecht-on-poetry-wonder-and-preventing-suicide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lisadelay.com\/blog\/eps-41-jennifer-michael-hecht-on-poetry-wonder-and-preventing-suicide\/","title":{"rendered":"EPS 41: Jennifer Michael Hecht on Poetry, Wonder, and Preventing Suicide"},"content":{"rendered":"

SCROLL DOWN for much more about my guest and about this special episode.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If it is not already obvious, on Spark My Muse I\u00a0feature people and topics I find interesting and important. I feature people from a variety of backgrounds and traditions:\u00a0people of some kind of religious faith and people without belief in the supernatural are\u00a0my guests. What they all have in common is that I think they are working on something\u00a0worthy of attention and conversation. It doesn’t mean I agree or come to the same conclusions with every\u00a0guest 100% but I appreciate them very much and I want to make space for them here and learn from them. It will spark my muse and yours.<\/em><\/p>\n

Currently, few people meet that standard more than my guest today: Jennifer Michael Hecht<\/strong>. What I have deeply appreciated about\u00a0Jennifer Michael Hecht<\/strong>‘s work is her curiosity, investigative way of working and writing, her sense of wonder, and her wonderful and sense of humor that comes out perhaps most often in her poetry.<\/p>\n

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In our conversation we cover topics in some of her books, her background, and she even reads a poem (swoon), but\u00a0the main topic covered is extremely important. <\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

In fact, it’s a matter of life and death: Suicide. There are common myths about why people kill\u00a0themselves and those myths create more deaths. No more.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

If you feel the urge to end your life, don’t. Wait out your mood, please talk about what is bothering you, and seek help. Stay alive.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"wuicidehotline\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

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I\u00a0too have\u00a0had time\u00a0of deep darkness and thoughts of taking my life have gone through my mind. I haven’t planned how to carry it all out\u00a0because\u00a0the finality scares me and the thought of putting my loved ones through hardship hurts me. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The statistics tell us that having these thoughts are normal<\/span>, just as any other type of thoughts.<\/strong>\u00a0Our thoughts our not our identity. They are things our brain does to try to solve problems. Sometimes our brain should not be listened to. We must not listen to any murderous thoughts either, right? (Like the ones we have during road rage moments or when we feel like we want to strangle our child when they sass us or boldface lie.) Our meat-like\u00a0brains might think bad things. So, if a thought of taking your life\u00a0is happening now, or ever.\u00a0Please stay. Don’t be rash. Hang on. AND Thank you for making a choice to stay on.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The best thing we can do during those dark and bad times is to wait it out<\/span>\u00a0and support others doing the same. We can also talk to someone to sort things through. If you feel like you are in a desperate mood, try your best to stay <\/strong><\/em>until<\/strong> you feel better.<\/strong>\u00a0Jennifer says it and I concur, your future self will be happy you did. Others WILL be happy you did. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Don’t\u00a0do anything you can’t undo. First Call 1-800-273-TALK (8255)<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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