The death of Robin Williams has been a hard one for a lot of us to process. We loved this man. We loved his energy, his zany over-the-top take on life – we loved how he made us laugh, and we loved his kindness. And those of us who have experienced depression ourselves feel a kinship with him in his struggles with mental illness.

If you are dealing with depression, I’m here to tell you, my dear friend, that you WILL get through this. And, trust me, when you come out on the other side – and you WILL come out on the other side – you will realize that it was all worth it – all of it. The pain won’t last forever, I promise. Accept it, sit in it, don’t try to fight it, learn what you need to learn from it. The pain won’t leave you where it found you – it’ll push you closer to your own rebirth. Rejoice!

photo of a forest in the Pacific Northwest by Karen Molenaar Terrell

He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings… – Psalms 40:2

Wilderness: Loneliness; doubt; darkness. Spontaneity of thought and idea; the vestibule in which a material sense of things disappears, and spiritual sense unfolds the great facts of existence.
– Mary Baker Eddy

Sorrow has its own reward. It never leaves us where it found us.
– Mary Baker Eddy