Today, April 16, is World Semicolon Day.

The semicolon in this context represents that our story, like a sentence, could have ended; instead, it continued on.

People who have survived an attempt sometimes use the semicolon to represent their recovery or continued struggle with their depression or other mental health diagnoses.

I have a combination of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia known as schizoaffective disorder – bipolar type. I get episodes of mania (an extreme, positive mood change) and depression (an extreme, negative mood change).

Every time I enter a severe depressive episode, there is some risk to my safety. My last major depression was in 2020, and before that, 2014. In 2014, I made an attempt to remove myself from this life.

It took 2 years, until late 2016, for me to be able to say I was in recovery from that. I still had chronic ideation for years after, even when I was not in a depressed state.

While my joie de vivre may fluctuate a lot, I am almost always incredibly glad that I am still here.

There are so many amazing things that I would have missed if I had ended my story in 2014, and I’m going to share some of the highlights for anyone who may need to hear that, even though it isn’t always going to be good, it isn’t always going to be so fucking awful, either.

• In 2015, I left a job I hated to pursue something I was more passionate about
• In 2015, I left an abusive relationship because I finally felt that my life was worth more
• In 2016, I got a chance to visit Ireland
• In 2017, I adopted my best friend, my cat, Bats – who has been a constant light in my life ever since
• In 2018, I began to really see myself in a positive light for the first time in a long time
• In 2019, I moved away from home and began a new life that I loved
• In 2020, I learned a lot about myself and who I am without all the things that had influenced me negatively prior to my move
• In 2021, I got together with someone I had known I wanted to be with since we were just teenagers
• In 2022, I officially proposed and she said yes
• In 2023, we got to start life over again, but this time, together
• In 2024, I finally started getting diagnoses for all the chronic health issues that I was having – and, better still, some treatment for them; I also published a book of poetry
• In 2025, I’m anticipating publishing my first novella; who knows what other amazing things await

For each year that I listed something amazing, there was also something that was awful or tragic. That is why I said it’s rarely ever all good; it’s also rarely ever all bad.

Remembering that life is a balance of this light and darkness is really critical to living with an illness, disorder, or chemical imbalance that has such a monumental impact on your mood.

Sending love to everyone who navigates similar challenges in this life. Your story matters. Your life matters. You matter.