CLS & Shades of Blue: Raising Mental Health Awareness (Patreon)

Hey!

I hope you’re all doing splendidly.

I’ve long been blessed with a job that requires me, above all else, to simply be myself. And, in being myself in front of you for years and years now, many of you have gotten to know me almost as intimately as some of those I hold closest. I think that’s really awesome, and I believe it’s a major component of what makes our bond so strong. Indeed, the level of candor I strive for results in the best possible content I think I can make. I just don’t know how to take me out of any of this. I wouldn’t want to.

I say all of that only to set up this next sentence: Transparency is a double-edged sword. It turns out I was so comfortable letting you know who I was that I never thought twice about making you privy to the whole picture, and that included the uncomfortable fact that I, like so many people out there, suffered from pretty acute depression and anxiety. As a child, right on through my teen years and into my 20s, it disrupted my life, manifesting itself in chronic stomach and colon ailments, with pain that, by my late 20s, felt like I was literally being stabbed in the gut. But beyond my physical suffering, I was suffering inside even worse, and I very rarely tried to do anything about it. I don’t know why I always felt sad or scared, while at the same time insisting on putting my shoulder into whatever stood in my way. I fell into a duality I think a lot of creative types, in particular, fall into: If the end-product is good (preferably great) and everybody else is happy (preferably ecstatic), who cares what condition I’m in? Part of creating is suffering. Right?

The thing is, if I’ve been blessed to make a living out of being myself, then I’ve also been blessed to have a platform where my audience and I can do some really great stuff together, and pull in a single direction for some worthy causes. And so I want to bring your attention to a cause that happens to deal with exactly what I’m talking about: Depression. Anxiety. Fear. Sadness. All of it. All of the terrible shit we wrap ourselves up in, over, under, and around, the stuff that no one can see, but that very much exists inside millions upon millions of us. The cause is called Shades of Blue, and it’s being helmed by British clothing company (and person!) Charli Cohen. Ben, who helps run the company, is a CLS fan, and when he approached me with what he and Charli were up to, I was glad to help in whatever way I could.

Shades of Blue is a mental health awareness initiative that’s useful for anyone who may be suffering from anxiety, depression, and the like, but an initiative that’s laser-focused on creative types and the creative industries, where -- just like elsewhere in our modern world -- people can be overworked, overstressed, overburdened, and frankly at their wits’ end. Shades of Blue already has a host of written content, but to get the message out even more, I was the interview subject of their very first Shades of Blue Podcast, where I spoke in-depth about what I’ve gone through (and continue to go through), my journey towards getting help, and how my depression and anxiety has helped steer my creative endeavors. I even talk about how I personally harnessed all of the negativity in my life into the creative energy that helped me keep moving forward, time and time again.

To celebrate this impromptu CLS x CC collaboration, the team at Charli Cohen created a really cool, one-of-a-kind patch, pictured above. The patch is designed around the discussion we had on the podcast, where I note that I often look at my life as a series of checkboxes, almost like a Ubisoft game or some sort of open world RPG. It’s how I compartmentalize and get things done, and it’s how I get through my toughest days. And I'm pretty certain that approach will make sense to more than a few of you.

So, here’s the pitch: Charli Cohen is looking to build out Shades of Blue so that it can reach more eyes and ears, create new content, and make some lives in the creative industries better in the process.

To that end, the company is offering pre-orders for our so-called Mission Complete Patch. Each patch will be shipped to you at no additional charge, and all proceeds will benefit the Shades of Blue initiative, helping to build it out into something increasingly viable, visible, and useful. (CLS will not receive any financial compensation or consideration.)

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my letter, and for being a part of a community that I’m truly proud of. Let’s keep trying to do and be good, however and whenever we can, yeah? -Colin