Reflecting on where I was two years ago reminded me of a project I worked on with Dave Hick (David & the Devil) around that time.

I met Dave the year prior. Following his very late diagnosis of Becker Muscular Dystrophy, his partner happened upon this very blog.

She shared it with Dave who reached out via Instagram. I’m sure he won’t mind me telling you that it was a frightening time.

What Dave didn’t know was how I was at the time. As referenced in the last blog, my mental health was in the toilet as the duties of my personal life wrestled with my sense of morality.

My wife was the core support throughout it all but I think supporting someone through diagnosis and what comes after gave me a focus.

We became friends shortly after, as we had a similar sense of humour, and a millennial mindset.

Leaping forward (Dave loves a frog reference), he suggested that we do something together for an EP he called Muscular Dystrophy Blues, a collection of songs on the experience of being diagnosed with BMD.

Dave was aware of my spoken word performances and gave me free reign to craft a poem he could work around.

The poem was The Light. It drew from the darkness of depression to deliver a message of hope and show others how creativity can be a tool to help those who are struggling with their mental health.

This song was the last dark thing I wrote. The message of hope at the end was proven true – and I was able to break free.

It feels that with this song I was able to expel every dark thought I was having and finally see the light for myself.

As fate would have it, about a year later Dave and I crossed paths in Newcastle, where we performed The Light in its first and last ever live performance at Billy Bootleggers.

We stole the oxygen from that room as all gathered there witnessed the beauty of our creation.

As it’s mental health awareness week I feel there’s no better time for you to give it listen.

Please take a minute (or three) and listen to this.

And remember, you are not alone.