Emo Scene Community

Hi guys/gals. Sorry if this turns out to be long, but I have some stuff I need to say. Also, please don't hate me for anything that I may say because I truly am on your side. I feel my time on this site has come to an end. I don't know most of you because I never really talked to anybody on this site. I was more of a lurker than anything. I guess I just don't really consider myself to be emo anymore. However, I'm never going to deny that I once was. I know a lot of people who were once emo deny it now, but I'm not going to. I know that it was a part of my life. I'm not saying that emo is a phase, it just wasn't what was right for me and my life. I want to say something about the topic of self harm/self injury because I feel it needs to be addressed. I never really voiced my opinion because I was always so afraid of pissing someone off if they misunderstood me, but I guess it's now or never. Please understand that I'm not trying to insult any of you or the emo community because I myself had cut for about 3 and a half years and I had done other forms of self harm since I was 4. It's obviously nothing new that people associate self harm with being emo even though not every emo person self harms and not everybody who self harms is emo. I'm not saying that emo people promote self harm or say it's cool, but it is an issue within the community. In my own personal experience I was very depressed for many years and when I found out what emo is I of course found out about self harm as well. I was never told it was cool or to do it, but I read stuff from people saying that it was a release. That's why I started. Even though people were saying not to do it because it was bad I still did it because I wondered how something could be bad if it provided a release. I was never warned that I would become addicted to it until after I already was. I was never told that cutting would make me more depressed in the long run. I just want people who haven't started yet to know the risks and that it's not all fun and games. As for the people who have already started, I urge you to stop. Find something that will help you stop. If you aren't to the point where you're addicted then it will be much easier to stop, but I know most people are already to that point because it only took me 2 times to become addicted. I know many of you that do self harm really deep down do want to stop and to find a better release. For some people the rubber band trick or ice trick work, but I know for me it didn't. Find something that will really give you the incentive to stop. For me I idolize Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan so much that I can't even begin to explain it. After he died in 2009 I got even more depressed, and I attempted suicide. I was about to die on the way to the hospital when I saw him. I know it was probably just the drugs I had over dosed on, but I truly believe he had saved me. After that night I had promised him (or at least his spirit) that I would turn my life around. I haven't cut since September 27th, 2010. He gave me the incentive to stop and you need to find something too, but I just don't want any of you to get to the point where you're gonna die in order to turn your life around. Now that that's out of the way I want to get back to my main topic. I want to thank Matt for creating such an amazing site. To be honest I've never been on any other emo sites, but I know that this site is different. People here are more friendly minus the few trolls we've been getting lately. I've always felt welcomed here. I've felt like people I guess appreciate my opinion more here than in real life. Even when I first joined this site when I was 12 I felt like people listened to me more than in real life even if you all didn't see me as completely equal because of my age. This site has truly helped shaped who I am today. It gave me a place where I felt I could be myself and not be hated for it. I felt like I could get help with the problems that I had. And to the rest of you, just keep being yourself. If you want to identify as emo then do so, but just go with the flow. If someday you start to feel differently then change. Change is okay. Don't stay stuck in one place because you will be better off if you just be yourself. And again, I'm not saying emo is a phase because some people will identify as emo for the rest of their lives, but also don't feel like you have to stay emo if you honestly don't want to. Again, thank you Matt for making this site. I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't the community here. I'm not going to delete my account because I will most likely still come here every so often to see how everybody's doing, but for the most part I won't be an active member anymore. Just remember you are all beautiful people, and I believe in all of you. Don't give up, and don't give in. Be yourself and don't let anybody change you just because you don't fit into the stereotypical norm that society has set. -James