It's been a long time since I've written anything. Probably longer than any period in my life. Writing has always been an outlet for me. A way to express what I was feeling about life whether that be romantic or funny or sad. But one day several long months ago I woke up to a feeling about life that I had never experienced before. The feeling of total hopelessness and helplessness.I've always been an optimistic person, feeling that life was at best a mostly enjoyable situation, at worst amusing to observe. Then one day for some unexplained reason the door slammed shut on my optimism. I've got theories about why it happened, but the whys aren't really all that important. The fact is that it did happen and dumped me into total darkness for what seemed like a lifetime.Perhaps that's why I always found it easier to make light of things. Using laughter as a mean to avoid a lot of the bad things that happen to people as we all travel this road called life together.My purpose in writing this totally non-fishing related piece is to hopefully open some eyes to a very real thing called depression. Many of you reading this are probably already aware, maybe through your own experiences or those of a loved one. It takes more than a well meaning, 'Well, just think happy thoughts' to help someone who feels like they are perched on a ledge of an abyss and don't care if they fall in or not.As silly and trite as it sounds, reach out to someone who may be depressed. Talk to them. Compliment them on something, make them laugh. You don't know, but it just might save their life and they will be eternally grateful. I'd like to thank a couple of friends here who reached out to me. I won't embarrass them here right now. They know who they are and I am eternally grateful.
