Most of my upbringing was an intense roller coaster of emotions. From drowning with thoughts of anxiety, self doubt, and consistent profound ideas of just ending it all, I often felt I had sunken deep in the ocean of pain and worthlessness. I can still remember vividly at age 14 when I had been contemplating for months to take my life. I cried myself to sleep almost every-single-day, waking up the next day with the most innocent gratitude that I had made it to the next day, while in contrast, deep down, I knew I just wanted to end it all. I had had enough, enough of crying, enough of hoping and longing that my life should have turned out differently.

This constant and fervent feeling that my life was harder than that of anyone else, laid so heavy on my shoulders that enjoying life was almost impossible. And living in a society in which avoiding pain or suffering in silence is seen as a sign of strength, sharing this with anyone else was not ideal. My strongest desire was to experience a community that did not only see me but heard me, a community that assured me that I was not alone and that I too had a story that mattered. After countless efforts of trying to explain who I am or why I thought the way I did, I felt more alone and eventually had to shrink my truest self to fit in in a place that was never meant for me anyway.

For that reason, every conversation matters was born. I felt the urge so profound to start an organization (ECM) that allows for a safe space for people to voice out, speak their thoughts openly and encounter their power through their own story. Because just like myself, people are longing for a community that not only sees them but hears them, a community that assures them that they too are not alone. And Every Conversation Matters advocates for exactly that.