James "Traverse" Blanchard - Open Letter to anyone who says suicide is a coward's way out @WANPOETRY
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- Опубліковано 25 сер 2024
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James "Traverse" Blanchard performing "Open Letter to anyone who says suicide is a coward's way out" at the 2015 Texas Grand Slam Poetry Festival in Bryan/College Station, Texas.
Check out some more poems from James!
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WANPoetry is a community-oriented collective of poets that meet at Avantgarden in Houston, Texas every Wednesday at 7:30 PM with the purpose of providing a multimedia platform for poets to share their work.
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"...those of us who suffer this disease tight-rope walk every day without a safety net juggling our insecurities and doubts like hand grenades....." very well said
"My uncle was no coward. A coward takes a classroom, a movie theatre, an airplane with them, in order to amplify the pain they feel inside outwardly. The courageous.... they leave this world as they felt they had lived in it. Alone."
This last line made me tear up.
I was able to be in the audience once when you performed this. As someone who who has delt with depression for four years, this is the most relatable thing ever. Honestly, these words have empowered me on my worst days. I am not weak. I am not broken or cowardly. Thank you so much for saying what people never do. No one talks about depression, and when they do, it's usually ignorant. Sometimes people never become aware of the differences they make in the lives of others, so I thought I should let you know how much this means to me. You rock!
Yes, I could not have said these things better myself, I relate to this post.
“The courageous leave this world as they felt they had lived in it: alone.”
Suicide is a cowards way out LOL
@@based_mediumchungus1788 on God…
💯
@@based_mediumchungus1788this is coming from someone who's proud that they have to do literally nothing to keep living.....you are pathetic
every single day is a victory. something to be proud of. people who suffer from this disease are not weak. they are the strong ones.
How is this so underrated? It is so breathtaking and deserves SO MUCH MORE attention
Because no one cares
I've suffered with MDD and borderline PD for 10 years, and this is the single most accurate slam (or any writing for that matter) that I have heard. Every single piece of this relates to what I've dealt with- aside from it being from PTSD.
This is an amazing piece, thank you for sharing.
Rachel Gralewski thank you
Complex PTSD, or CPTSD, is often confused with Borderline Personality Disorder because they have a lot in common. I would suggest that this strikes closer to home for you BECAUSE he’s describing it as PTSD - which he says is not just for soldiers, implying that he may be referring to the complex variety which is caused by prolonged, profound trauma, usually in childhood, and which the APA has yet to acknowledge as a separate diagnosis from regular PTSD (though the World Health Organization does). Look it up. Many American mental health practitioners recognize the distinction, even though it doesn’t appear in the DSM-V.
WOW, just wow! It's like you were in my head! My sister was no coward! Thank you!
Yes she was
@@sashavenkashe was desperate
@@sashavenkayour grave should be spit on for the vitriol you spew
This is absolutely amazing, I deal with depression and this poem brought me to tears.
Suicide is a cowards way out LOL
that Rorschach line actually gave me goosebumps
The Kid thank you
Mine's the last two sentences.
This is the most relatable thing I have heard in a long time, I have bipolar and suffer with manic depression, my sister also took her own life. I shared this with my group for people who have lost loved ones to suicide and they feel the same thank you x
This moved me to tears. So good.
Kyleigh Barker thank you
"Suicide is both the most courageous and heartbreaking thing a person can do - heartbreaking because of the pain the person is in and the pain they're leaving behind for others, and courageous, because it takes immense strength and resolve to end your own life and not take anyone else with you, and not realise that what you're leaving behind is the darkest of days and that there is a light on the other end of the tunnel of days that are the brightest waiting for you and not having the strength to stay."- What I told my psychiatrist after my own attempt failed when she asked me to define suicide
I've listened to this at least 25 times since yesterday. Thank you.
Slam poetry is not my thing but god damn that was incredible. Very true and sadly relatable words, people really misunderstand mental illness and depression.
People who say that are projecting and outwardly against their own insecurities. They lack sympathy, empathy, or perspective.
The people who say that, in my experience, and metaphorically, are akin to gamblers in a rigged house, that have never lost, cursing those that have.
Exactly . They are cowards in so many ways
My mother has a lot of empathy. Her father completed suicide and she was the one who found him. She rode with him in the ambulance and he died before they got him to the hospital. She says it is weakness but she does not lack sympathy. It’s her way of coping. If anything she lacks intelligence because if she had half a brain she’d understand how damaging her coping skills have been for me my entire life.
The courageous, they leave this world as they felt they live in it, alone.
Cant believe I just found this, brilliant.
Sacha thank you
They lived this world as they had felt they entered it, alone, they are the courageous
That was so power! WOW. It really resonated with me
It was hard to listen too. But resonated with me so well. I live this life alone. I battle everyday to live. Honestly, Im so tired
Damn. That hit hard. I've dealt with it for so long... it's true.
This is beautiful. Thank you. Thank you.
I've been battling complex PTSD as a result of childhood trauma since my late teens. I am 42 now and I have sabotaged everything that I always wanted in life. I am disgusted just looking at that number. I want to end this now
This is beautiful. Reminds me why I started writing.
I am an avid #MentalHealthAwareness advocate and performer, and I love this so much. I travel the country trying to bring that awareness on stages, in classrooms, hospitals, and on my UA-cam channel, so I get excited when I see other advocates. 💙❤
I'd love to!
I don't do this but..... I don't have anyone that I can talk to. I feel as if I don't belong here. In 37 almost 38 years, I have done nothing right. I have only brought hurt to everyone around me. I don't want to feel this way but I don't have any reason to feel otherwise. People don't have much to say about me that is worth listening to. I feel alone and I always have. If there is anyone who is willing to speak with me I am here.
I am here. I hope I am not too late. I hope that you are doing better now than when you wrote this but nonetheless, I am here.
@@seoulsearcher7628 thank you sister. Yes I am better now. I am still standing on my rock on my hill shining my light. #andsoitis
thank you sooooooo much Joy, I really needed to hear this today.
Thank you 🙏🏼
Well said my friend.
amazing work. so raw
selma k thank you
selma k thank you
Teddy Roosevelt - 'Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don't have the strength.'
My favorite teacher said this to the class in reference to a case we were learning about in her criminal justice class. The problem is this was my first day back to school after I got out of inpatient from a failed suicide attempt. I never came back to school after that.
BRAVO
Coward and selfish are the words of someone who does not have a mental Illness, at least not to the extent that it can't be controlled. Calling someone a coward for committing suicide is no different to calling someone a coward for dying from cancer, both are an illness, the only difference is that the brain is sick and broken; both weren't controllable or fixable; both people fought hard against their illness but were killed by them. And yet someone who dies from a physical illness is brave and a fighter and we call people who commit suicide cowards? What about the person who has psychosis and was completely detached from reality? Coward? When people die from any illness it affects their families and they carry that weight the only difference is we are still living in a society that blames people when their brain doesn't function properly but not any other organ of the human body and its completely f****d up
Yeah man those people are dirty with their privillege, i would absolutley love to have such a great life where dying is incomprehensible to me, they don't kmow what they have. They say money doesn't matter but they're rich themselves and dont need it
I agree wit him💯
I've googled that knot…, I understand, until you go through something this unpleasant, go through the living hell, patiently trying to hang onto your life, but that life is so painful and confusing and grey, there is colour, no joy, no matter how hard you try and you try, you try so hard that you become exhausted. Some, just can not hold on any longer, they did not want to hurt you, but they figured that they had become such a burden and so horrible to be around that you would not miss them, you see your brain, your comprehension of what is go ok ng on around you, your comm ok n sense, your ability to have clarity is highjacked by an illness that stops you from sleeping, eating, working, destroys your ability to feel joy, to feel anything, life is just grey. No matter how hard you want to see the beauty in the waves crashing on the shore, you want your heart to feel warm when you hear your child giggles, you want to be able to laugh feely a long with them, enjoy the taste of your favourite meal of smell of your mums home cooking. Those emotions are grey. You can not feel anything but either pain or emptiness, at times both. Over times, usually months and months and into
Years, life is not life if you do not have joy. So you make a decision to sleep forever, your so so so tired. Selfish doesn't even come into
It, its about ending torment. Its a choice made after many many many contemplation, its not just out of the blue. Please do not judge anothers choice, if you have never had experience with what it is your judging. Unless you have red experienced anything you just do not understand. Its no different to becoming a parent and that first t ok me you look at your baby, people tell you that you will feel love like you have never experienced before, you think you know, but you have no idea and when that love hits you, you know, you understand that this is something well beyond anything you could ever imagine, well depression is like that. We all have periods of sadness, a relationship break up, even, times when we are stressed and feeling like the world is against us. That isn't droresdion. ❤
Excellent performance 🐌❤️✨
I haven't watched this whole video yet since im to lazy to but i feel talking your own life is more of a desperate way out then it is a cowards way out. My viewpoint on this topic has changed a couple of times over the past couple of months but the reason why i feel its a desperate way out since the definition of a coward is someone who lacks the courage to do dangerous or unpleasant things. Talking your own life is not pleasant and its dangerous now am i saying that its a good thing or should be encouraged? No but thats the way i feel about it and if suicide is such a cowards way out as people say it is then i guess the people who jumped from the world trade center on 9/11 were " cowards " even tho they were umping so they wouldn't burn to death they weren't ending theie life because they were depressed. Thats how i feel about this topic
I miss Joseph😢
this is amazing. sort of an odd question - what does his shirt say?
It says
"'The unexamined life is not worth living' - Socrates
'You better check yo self before you wreck yo self" - Ice Cube"
damn..
Powerful words man....
I fuckin LOVE this!!! THANK YOU!
Thank you
I never thought of a Hangman's Knot as a skill. Atleast I'm good at something.
Damn
fuck, that was strong
Facts
Very Beautiful!!!,
I am from india and in Hinduism if i commit suicide i will go to hell n suffer there for eternity.I am dealing with schizophrenia since last 10yrs n now i am done with it .i wanna give up !!
Why will i go to hell ??
I don't see why you would suffering for suffering, doesn't seem so just to me
Lol
still not convinced i will ever dig poetry...
dig deeper
that's wat she said...
yay, I got another thumb down lol
+James Blanchard doesn't matter. this is awesome. good job
+James Blanchard Can't thank you enough for this. You've been able to explain for others the things I've never been able to fully understand myself.
+duckehxdee thank you
+Renee Meza thank you
@@jamesblanchard2857 because this video is not a good message. It’s glorifying people that chose the easy way out.
alright, I got a dislike....sweet
Yeah because your speech is wrong.
@@therealjason72309 it's called an opinion. At least I'm not calling people cowards or clowns just because they ended their life
@@user911iscool it’s called an opinion and those people who have survived are the ones who deserve be praise. Seems like you’re mad over my opinion over your lover boys speech.
@@therealjason72309 all because you didn't attempt it doesn't mean your famous or popular all of a sudden
@@user911iscool
*you’re
I have a much better chance of becoming famous compared to them though. Because I’m alive and they’re not. You’re not gonna become famous or be some kind of hero for defending those people who took the selfish way out. Typical social justice warrior.
Andrew tate is mad now 😂
It is actually a cowards way out, people today are just not ready to swallow hard facts.
No, that is stupid.
@@vladtheemailer3223hes a very stupid man, he can choke on what he swallows
Suicide is definitely cowardice.
YOU CANNOT SY IT IS HARD TO SUICIDE, that sounds like your defending a loved one which i get but there is no backing up what they are leaving behind.
YOU ARE SELFISH AND COWARDICE FOR LEAVING FAMILY AND FRIENDS TO SUFFER
@The_swamp_man LMAO ! 😂😂😂😂 bro said im a weak coward i really hope ur playing
It is hard and unpleasant
You yourself are a coward for trying to speak om something you've never experienced, you havent been in that mindset, you're just some privilleged little boy with too much going for him, that's the real weakness than anything. You're like a politician that declares war but hides in a warm house
@@putamadre737 you’re a coward yourself because here you are assuming that people have never experienced it. So all of a sudden you know what people have been through? What kind of child touching infant man are you?
It’s is a coward way out you hate life you much you end it instead of dealing with it
Yup it’s a cowards way out
* says a person who has privilege of never feeling suicidal *
says the person who doesn’t know that we actually have had those feelings and actually didn’t kill themselves like a coward
I feel it's more of a desperate way out since talking your own life is not pleasant and it's dangerous but it still isn't a good thing at all
@@therealjason72309you stayed because you were too scared to go...now does that sound brave? To you anything you do is bravery apparently
I suffer depression but it would be selfish of me to kill myself thats why people say its a cowards way out its becuase people look at it as selfish to put your family through it
So what? I'm meant to just suffer instead over something i had no say in? Do i not matter suddenly? People who say it's seldish are just privileged because they're depression couldn't even be classified as anything more than mere sadness. I would be so happy to have the kind of depression where i still have a will to live
no need for anti-ambulatory slur
cr*ppling
ending was problematic as well.
What do you mean
Applying this to a different scenario in order to see it in a different light:
A soldier commits suicide on the battlefield because he looks out and sees his unit is outnumbered 500 to 1, with no chance of victory, starving, and dehydrated.
Alternatively his mate, seeing the same odds, fights. He fights for an hour, getting shot 7 times, ultimately bleeding out.
Suicide still doesn't seem brave to me. Dying is easy. Living is harder. The person who gives up will never be as brave as the person who carries on, who fights tooth and nail.
Dying seems easy.. until you're sitting alone with your finger on the trigger. They say go talk to somebody but a therapist will sell you what you already know and obviously it hasn't been working and most other people do not really understand the level desperation you have to feel sane. You try to open up but not all the way because you don't want to sound over dramatic or because there's that stigma that says you just want pity or that you you need to get over it because everybody has problems then one upping you without knowing the severity of your issue. Besides, if you opened up fully then you'll end up in a psych ward standing in a pill line.. trust me that is a fate worse than jail and no longer an option I'll pursue again. "It's a cowards way out", "it's selfish". Would it make me selfish to end a life of mental suffering that I'm tired of waking up to every single day? Or, is it selfish of other people for guilting me in fighting tooth and nail just to continue to suffer alone? There is no glory worth suffering for a life time. I'm sure most of the people who decided to pull the trigger wanted to live. I'm also certain that in that moment.. they had more courage than anybody could imagine. "The person in whom Its invisible agony reaches a certain unendurable level will kill themselves the same way a trapped person will eventually jump from the window of a burning high-rise." -David Foster Wallace-
This guy thinks living is easy, when it requires nothing to live. He just wants to feel like his nothingness has a meaning to it
thank you sooooooo much Joy, I really needed to hear this today.