First thing I thought when I read this is that yes, people still only see others as their disorder, and nothing more. I don't think people have to understand all the complexities or each emotion in order to treat someone with compassion and as a fellow human being. Mental illness doesn't make anyone "bad", nor should it shed any kind of negative aspect or stereotype on them, yet I see people talk online about how someone is unpredictable or reckless or impulsive and I still think these are harmful ideas when all they know about a person may be that they're dealing with a mental illness. The part about you saying you have to convince people that you're trying, and that you're caring, I mean wow. That hits hard. And what it means when symptoms do or don't show, because after all, it's not like any of us hide how we feel or deal with the whole stigma of often invisible illnesses.

I have few words for the last three stanzas. The confusion in dealing with trauma and pain, and having others see it as art too. It makes me think of people putting others' experiences on a pedestal almost, saying that as long as they learned and became better and stronger, then it was worth it. When really, who has the right to say that? It's not their pain or trauma, no matter what details are shared with them. They don't get to decide that. Or say if "beauty comes from pain" or not.

The idea of poetry as art and writing for ourselves and catharsis, mixed with the reality that what we're facing isn't something others can always relate to in the exact same way. The peak and lowest ebb was such a good point. Especially when we see someone sharing something profound, and want to proclaim how great that is, when the person behind it could be feeling a hundred different ways and not feel the same.

After all these years, your writing is still magic. It's the beauty and the curse of being a poet. Could certainly relate to the writing translating to an indication of our mental wellbeing. I always gravitate back to my poems during unstable times.

The honesty, the brutality, the unabashed dedication to be fearless. This is beautiful. Unapologetic. This is amazing. Love you.

Speaks to me on a personal level. Thankyou.

Thank you.