Dear You,

You are not alone. I'm talking to you, the one who is suffering from feelings of depression. I've been there, and have done that. Surprisingly, though the feelings may seem dormant for a time, they never really leave. There are days when you may feel alone, unworthy, invisible. It kind of feels like you are in this box and you're walking in circles.

At least that's how it felt for me. I was closed in, unable to really voice my opinions, my needs and my desires. I sat around as if I already knew no one cared. Not many people can understand depression, unless they're going through it. Most will tell you just get up and do something or smile, it will be okay.

Some don't know that it is not that easy. While we may make smiling look like it is a beautiful thing, inside there are parts of us that are withering away and working on staying hidden. When one is suffering from a period of depression, the world is dark. There is nothing to be seen, heard or said that may change the way that we feel.

I write this letter to you, not to describe the feelings of depression -- because you sure already know what they are -- but to let you know that you are not alone. I'm sure you know that how you feel no matter what some may tell you is completely valid. Though depression is not fun, it is a feeling. A feeling that many people through.

There are many of us that are functioning in our day-to-day life, not because we want to, but because we have to. Some of us rather just crawl up in a blanket and think ourselves into a frenzy, but unfortunately not everyone's life works that way.

I've learned through my bouts of depression that writing is my escape. I can write about anything and enter that world for the very moment. I don't have to deal with things that are going on around me. I don't have to focus on the stresses of everyday life. I write and I write, and I write until I can't read anymore.

I'm saying this to say that though you are suffering from the very horrible pits of depression, there are brighter days. Find something they are good at. Do it. Do it on so you can't do it anymore. Focus all of your energy on that very thing and you will begin to see that depression does not rule you. It does not break you and it does not control you.

I was you a very long time ago. I thought I'd be better off somewhere else, where I was in a burden and no one had to worry about me. I was given the talent of writing to suppress these feelings and to allow myself to escape into another world.

Oh, has it helped. I have found my purpose and I know that I belong. I may not belong with everyone, everywhere and in every group, but I do belong.

Though it may feel like it, depression is not the end of the world. If you allow it to be, it can be the beginning of a world that you have yet to experience.