When I first started this account in 2019, people rarely discussed the unique mental health of Asian diaspora or Asian immigrants. In fact, this was why I started this account in the first place. Because there was content about mental health, but very little that focused on Asian identity. Early on people asked me why I would “narrow” the focus of my account to such a “small niche.” Wouldn’t I gain more followers being a generalist on social media? And my response was always, “I am not doing this to speak to the person who always feels seen and heard. I am speak to those who often feel invisible and hidden like me.” While BIPOC mental health month has officially been around for a while, in the last several years it has become a time in which companies want to focus on BIPOC mental health concerns, organizations want to do programming and content creators of color find themselves needing to do work simply because it is “our month.” But based on who? Why this month? Why only now? It makes me think about how as people of culture we are often being told to wait. Not right now. We don’t have the budget. You aren’t senior enough to make a difference. It’s too early to speak. People aren’t “ready.” I’ve decided that I’m too tired to play these games of deciding when and where I am allowed to live my existence and truth. Neither am I willing to play the games of being validated on certain months or under certain conditions. I hope you might start to release yourself from those conditions too. To give yourself permission to exist in full form more often or even year round. Controlling the conditions and timing of your existence is YET another form of oppression. Do not let it fool you. So I invite you this month to exist. To laugh. To live. To be. To share your stories like you would any other month. To love on your community regardless of time or space. Our time is now. Let’s claim it together. So share with us: How are you claiming your now? How are you living in full form without waiting for others to validate you? How are you existing in truth regardless of conditions? Thank you for sharing. ❤️