Takeaways from suicide prevention speaker

As a suicide prevention speaker at most in-person events, I ask if audience members will leave me a note on an index card of one thing they learned. I was finding that after speaking at an event and telling the story of my son’s death by suicide, I was feeling so low after an event once by myself.

The self-care step I devised is to have each audience member share one thing they learned by writing that down on an index card. I tell the audience why and I ask them to share just a piece of themselves with me. And at the moment I start to feel low, I pull them out and read them. At this point, there are thousands, and none are thrown away but savored and reread on days when I need inspiration.

This exercise allows me to take with me just a piece of that person, that experience, that audience with me, and leaves me feeling filled up. It also helps me to realize what is important.

What is so interesting is how people hear what they need at any given time. Just click on the image and you can scroll through them. Here is a link to even more!