Note: includes reference to self harm. Michael is a School of Information alum.
Mental health matters 💚 pic.twitter.com/M1OUldv4Dz
— Mychal (@mychal3ts) September 9, 2023
22 thoughts on “Please Watch”
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Such a great example of how something so seemingly “little” can be a life-changer for someone in a dire situation. We never know where an individual is coming from or what they are experiencing–reaching out with kindness and a welcoming attitude is always in style!!
This is so beautiful. I follow him on social media and didn’t know he is a SJSU alum!
I also follow him and didn’t know he was an alum!
Very cool! Neat that this person recognized the library as a safe place, reaching back to his childhood days as a “library kid.” The flip side could involve just one library member filling the anticipated sort of approach immediately assumed. Good for this library and its staff. The power of positive vibes!
@pamsponderings @kathrina1 @aarontassin Thanks for watching! I sent the link to all my library colleagues because it was just so positive and uplifting.
This is so positive. Such little things can have such a big impact on people.
I love this so much. The power of a hello. Knowing you belong.
I’m lucky enough to be a patron at this library and they are doing such a fabulous job of creating a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment. The work they are doing was part of what inspired me to start this program!
I’ve been following Mychal for a while now on various social media channels… And I must admit that I continue to be blown away by his boundless enthusiasm towards embodying the aspirational ideals of wholehearted librarianship. Mychal’s love for the “undeniable magic” articulated throughout daily routines of LIS practice undoubtedly serves as a constant beacon of inspiration to us all. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRMwV-JYP7f4pEjT-v42fCknxoiQVevML&si=tvnrM3HXgEkoAO_-
Wow! What an amazing little snippet of hope and kindness and inspiration.
Also, wondering if his use of words like “unalive” as opposed to “kill” or “commit suicide” was for a reason? Like, to avoid the harshness of the other words?
In a suicide prevention training we did a couple of years ago, we are no longer using “commit suicide”. We learned it is more appropriate to use “death by suicide” and/or unalive. I wonder if it is because of the harshness of the words. I actually didn’t think about that until I read your post @maryann.
@hfergie
I wonder what the thinking was in replacing “commit suicide” with “death by suicide”? It does kind of seem like the phrase “commit suicide” is too vague, even passive and weak and doesn’t tell it like it is – if you do it, you are unalive or causing your death. Definitely thought provoking. Well, thanks for sharing.
@tsjennings @tremmer Yes! A big impact & belonging!
@annaberger That is so cool! Perhaps you can blog a bit about the library!
@michele Thanks for the video link!!!
@maryann I googled the term “Unalive” — ” refers to death by suicide or homicide. It can function as adjective or verb and joins similar phrasing — like “mascara,” to mean sexual assault — coined by social media users as a workaround to fool algorithms on sites and apps that censor posts containing discussion of explicit or violent content.”
I had no idea!
@michael How fascinating! (If a heart-breaking subject)
I, too, knew nothing about the term mascara – now I’m inspired to learn more of these types of workaround words and phrases. I can see how using these alternatives to fool an algorithm could be useful. It also occurred to me that, as Mychal is making his video within the library, using the alternative word “unalive” might be a way disguise the true meaning in case for younger kids might overhear him.
@maryann Right!
I love the comments: the power of hello, the power of positive vibes, etc.
It really does take one act, one word, one smile, etc. to create the library where you belong. I sincerely hope I am creating that library for our students and staff.
Thank you for sharing, @michael!
@hfergie You are welcome! That video left a big impression on me. Se also the podcast I shared from our ALA president.
Thank you for sharing the podcast @michael. It was an encouraging reminder of why I do what I do.
@hfergie I am still thinking about all the cool things Emily said in the podcast.
Ditto @michael! The podcast came up in a conversation today with a colleague.
@hfergie So cool. This is certainly a touchstone.