Welcome!
Coming in to the launch of Blog For Mental Health 2014, I thought I was prepared. I’d made some important changes to the way the campaign was set up, and I was sure those changes would remove any confusion, making this year both more inclusive and easier for me to stage.
As it turns out, I was right. I was also utterly unprepared for the response Blog For Mental Health 2014 has generated. As of this writing, we already have more than 60 confirmed pledges, and that number grows daily. That may not stagger you, but in the whole of last year’s campaign, we received a sum total of 116 pledges. In 11 days, Blog For Mental Health 2014 has received more than half of the total for pledge posts in the entire 2013 campaign!
This is something which flabbergasts me, which delights me, which fills me with hope and joy. Additionally, many bloggers have expressed a desire to share and send along more than just one initial pledge post. They want to share their stories ongoing throughout the coming year. And I very much want to be able to help them to do so.
I found myself thrown for a bit of a loop on how to handle this, though. You see, it is still of the utmost importance to me that A Canvas Of The Minds, the site through which Blog For Mental Health was being coordinated, remains A Canvas Of The Minds — with its primary focus of sharing the amazing words of the incredible people who author there.
I didn’t stay thrown very long. Before I even knew what I was doing, I created another blog entirely to showcase that which has become so important to so many people, myself included: this site you are now so graciously visiting, The Official Blog For Mental Health Project.
I also created a facebook page, a Twitter account, and a Google+ profile. I really need to get myself a hobby. 😉
The general plan of action is this. Because The Official Blog For Mental Health Project is so new, and has no follower base as yet (not-so-subtle hint that you should all follow it and share it around), the Blog For Mental Health 2014 Official Blogroll will be maintained both here and on Canvas. In addition, initial pledge posts from bloggers will be shared out both through regular Canvas social media, as well as the new BFMH Project social media channels.
Subsequent Blog For Mental Health posts I receive throughout 2014 will be shared through this blog itself, as well as its social media. Canvas and its social media will then be able to keep focused on the wonderful content readers have come to expect from the amazing authors there.
I know this is probably going to be confusing to quite a few of you, and there most certainly will be some adjustments along the way as I learn what works and what does not. It’s happened so rapidly that even the design for this site isn’t finalized — I mean aesthetically. I would really love to have presented it to you looking dressed up and beautiful as it will ultimately be, but right now the content is here, pages which I put together carefully, thoughtfully, and also with the utmost urgency. I think it’s a good beginning.
I think only one more thing is very important to touch on now. This is as new for me as it is for all of you. While I’ve no doubt there will be a learning curve, I know that together we will make the BFMH Project work in all the best ways “to promote mental health education in the struggle to erase stigma,” just as the pledge states.
So have a look around the site, read what I have put together in its pages, let me know what you think!
Love to all of you,
Ruby
© Ruby Tuesday and The Official Blog For Mental Health Project 2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Ruby Tuesday and The Official Blog For Mental Health Project with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
The Official Blog For Mental Health Project 
I may have been one of those who misunderstood the initial pledge vs. ongoing posts.
My original comment on the Canvas page thanked you for making a space for all to share and, maybe, for contributors to find their strength and help for themselves as well. I am repeating it again… I just wish I could put more emphasis on it this time. The fact that you put together this space overnight is amazing and touching to me as a contributor and reader. Please reach out if you need anything. Seriously.
BTW, the blog is already beautiful. It’s the message that makes it that way.
(sorry for the long comment! )
Sheena, I’m not sure anyone was entirely clear on that first point. 😉
Your comment on Canvas touched me, as do your words here. You are one of the reasons I built this space, why it is so important to me to keep it going. You make me feel so humbled, and at the same time so proud that I’m actually doing something helpful and good.
Thank you so much for your kind words of support. I won’t forget them, I promise. And what you said about it already being beautiful, that means more to me than I can express.
And thank you for the long comment. Every word in it is special to me.
I think it is so amazing that you have built a space where we can all come together as human being and rally support for still such a “taboo” subject. I have many pieces that I will be writing over the next year….(Its been a long 36…almost 37 years)! I wish I could take the day off and just blog ALL DAY! my first piece is almost done. As we finish them up, and send you the links, do you showcase them on this blog and the official BFMH2014 so they can be shared with other who might be able to identify with what we’ve written? I’m pretty sure that’s what your saying but I want to be clear. You are WONDERFUL to dedicate your time to this Ruby…please know that if I was in front of you I would give you a GIANT hug!!!!
You are so sweet to say such lovely things, and I would give you an equally GIANT HUG in return!
I think there are so many important stories to share, and I’m grateful to be able to help facilitate that. Your questions on sharing actually prompted me to add them to the page for Frequently Asked Questions, but I’ll give you a quick answer.
Your initial pledge post will be shared through social media both for Canvas and the BFMH Project. All posts after that will be shared on BFMH Project social media. Also, this blog itself will be a place for sharing the posts for the links you send me, so that everyone can have a place to find them and read and hopefully support one another. That sharing will start in the next couple of days as I find my bearings!
I will continue to post updates about the BFMH Project on Canvas, as well as keeping the blogroll current and using our social media power, but the posts themselves will not go out on that blog. It has a specific, dedicated purpose of its own, and I want to see that both sites are showcased properly, you know?
Okay, I guess that wasn’t exactly a quick answer! 🙂