10/27/2023 0 Comments Melissa and doug dragon kite![]() ![]() I mean, we are at our highest rates of depression in this world ever." "And yet, what is the next pandemic? Depression. The American way is that consumption makes you happy, money makes you happy." "But what you're saying is a little radical. "Yes, it's a place to explore everything explore things that most people don't wanna talk about." Pogue asked, "You would call it a mental health hub?" She and Doug have also launched the second major enterprise of their lives, LifeLines: it's a website, an app, a podcast series, a video series, talks and events, all of it free. ![]() To celebrate that journey, Melissa has self-published a book called "Lifelines: An Inspirational Journey From Profound Darkness to Radiant Light." It's her memoir, her photography, and her verses. I enlisted the help of a trained professional who became my partner in making this inward journey." "I was so exhausted, because pain plus resistance equals suffering. However, was still repressing and denying who I was."įinally, four years ago, she reached her breaking point. Melissa tried to suppress her depression by throwing herself into her creative work at the company. ![]() I knew if the pain, you know, got too, too intense, that I always had them there." And many days, sort of opened it up and looked at them and kinda went like this. And I carried those around with me in my pocket every single day for close to a year. She hit bottom in college, at Duke University: "I created a bottle of pills that, basically, I researched and found the exact cocktail that would effectively stop my heart. I controlled every single thing I could control, since I could not control my thoughts." And when I met Doug, when I was 19, I weighed 82 pounds and I was very frail. "You know, my first eating disorder was at age 11. "I developed eating disorders," she replied. Pogue asked, "This darkness that you lived with growing up, I mean, how did it manifest itself in the real world?" Over the years she has written 3,000 of these poems, and never showed them to anyone. "When I was young, you know, one of my first verses was: I am fearful, oh so fearful, if you do not show me light, I will lose the will to live, and choose to end this futile fight." Her only therapy was writing what she calls verses. Why am I here? What is the meaning of life if we are all ultimately going to die? I felt utter despair." Melissa Bernstein, co-founder of Melissa & Doug, talks about her lifelong struggle with depression.įor most of her life, Melissa concealed what she calls her existential depression from the whole world, including her parents and her children. Melissa said, " From my earliest recollections, I felt like I didn't belong here on Earth, and that something was profoundly wrong deep within my being. Melissa said, "I can certainly admit that I have enjoyed the material trappings that come from being successful, all those material rewards that make us feel that we've 'made it.'"īut as you may have guessed, there's a "but" coming. They own four homes, including a 38,000-square-foot Connecticut mansion with its own bowling alley, basketball court, and arcade. Melissa & Doug, the company, have made Melissa & Doug, the couple, rich beyond their wildest dreams.
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