Rebuild & Mental Health Awareness

This weekend I had the privilege of photographing a mental health awareness event inside of a body building gym. The event was Rebuild, the brainchild of Jonathan Delaney, founder of Build Your Broken.

Yes, this was a community event inside of a gym. A place where you'd assume that people can only go to in order to push their physical body to the limit. Not the typical place you'd think people would be exercising their mental and emotional weight on a Saturday morning — but that was the brilliance of this whole thing.

Build Your Broken is a mental and physical health brand built around empowering people to rebuild their body and mind, creating a space where others know they are not alone or stuck where they are.

His goal? To help people know that they can start somewhere. That they can change their lives with one action, one step forward. He built Build Your Broken for anyone, especially those within the lifting community, in need of a lighthouse or safe haven to help get them through to that next spot in life.

And that Saturday morning I watched people absorb these very important words.

You are loved.
If you are struggling, don't give up.
Your life matters.
You matter.

It made me realize the beauty of life is in our own existence. Living life is the gift itself.

Being there was a reminder that on the outside we really never know what others are going through. It was also a reminder that we all probably have some of the same, if not similar, internal dialogues in life — which is why vulnerability is such a super power. We are all going through this timeline of life we've been given and doing the best we can.

Shoutout to Jonathan for creating Build Your Broken and for bringing this conversation into a community and to a group of people who wouldn't necessarily be expected to have it. It is important to support someone working to raise awareness, encourage conversations around mental health, help break the stigma surrounding suicide, and remind others that hope exists, help is available, and rebuilding is indeed possible.

He is also participating in the Capital Region Walk for R.I.T.A. for their Out of the Darkness Walk - https://afspwalks.donordrive.com/teams/buildyourbroken - for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), to help fund research, education, advocacy, and support programs for those affected by suicide.

If you or someone you love is ever struggling, 988 is the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US — call or text, anytime.