When I was growing up, Barbie was every girl's favorite toy and was our idol. Literally, if you did not have every Barbie movie, doll, and accessory, what in the world was your childhood as a young girl? She could do literally everything; being a doctor, president, rock star. She was everything that any girl ever wanted to be and proved that a girl can do anything that she wanted to do. She proved she didn't need a guy by breaking up with Ken. She proved that friendships last lifetimes by having the same friends for years. Barbie was something that every girl wanted to strive for, because who could say no to a girl like Barbie?
She was always fun and perky and loved life.
But she just got serious. For those of you who have not seen the recent video that Barbie uses as from what I assume as a podcast for an online TV series or just for a new TV series in general, her video talks about how she herself has gone through depression. Barbie does not specifically say that she herself has depression but by describing the feeling as being blue. She goes into talking about how she is not like this all the time but how she doesn't like to talk about it due to the expectations because of people always seeing her as this perky, fun-loving girl. I mean if she is this happy all the time how could she have depression?
The truth is that a lot of the people who always seem happy all the time because that is what is expected of us. People who are depressed don't show it because that is what is expected of them. No one wants to hear how much you are not loving life, or how sad you are. People want to hear how wonderful your life is because no one wants to be sad. No one wants to feel anything in life other than happiness.
I love that Barbie has come out with this video because she explains that people need to love and feel life. As she has stated, life has its springs and its winters. I have more winters than springs. But when I have those springs I feel as if my life is utterly amazing. I feel lighter than air.
My winter has been around for awhile. I might have one spring day or even an hour and I cherish it. This is something that I just cannot turn on or off. My depression is a part of me and I honestly believe that it has made me a better person because of it. I have moved slowly away from the deep end and now just treading water. But when I get those spring days It makes me feel alive. Depression makes me feel as if I can get through anything that life gives me.
The fact that my idol is giving me advice years and years later that I have been looking for my entire life feels full circle. I want to make my idol proud and work harder to beat this monster that I know will be with me my entire life. That is why when the spring comes I will love it. And when the winter is lurking around the corner, I will look for that small flower that refuses to believe that it is winter.
Thank you so much, Barbie.
Link to the video is here: https://www.facebook.com/superficialrevival/videos...
