to write love on her arms
I’ve always known To Write Love On Her Arms existed as an organisation, or movement. I just saw some people wearing the funky shirts, but I hadn’t really paid attention to what exactly they were on about. Recently I’ve paid attention… and I love what they do.
To Write Love on Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery.
I love that it’s so much more than an organisation throwing money at a situation – it’s showing people caught up in depression or self-harm that they are loved; that their life is worth fighting for; that they do matter! And that’s worth so much more than all the money in the world.
You should definitely read the story about how TWLOHA started. It’s an incredible story.
Today was a bit of an awareness day for the TWLOHA movement. It was encouraged to write the word ‘love’ on your arm, and spread the word about what these guys are on about. I did it – and for the times when I didn’t have to be all professional and meet customers and such, I rolled up my sleeve so it was visible.
But money is needed and important in this world. Those shirts that you see a lot of “cool” band people wearing, (notably, the dudes from Switchfoot) and that have become a bit of a fashion statement, are actually what they first made and sold to pay for their friends’ drug rehab treatment (read the story). And today they’re still the major portion of support they receive.
And more than that, wearing the shirt is a great way to keep spreading the message of To Write Love On Her Arms.