If Invisible Children was still active on MySpace, we would put Jamie Tworkowski in our Top 8. He’s always been down to show us the love, and thus we have returned it by promoting his organization To Write Love Her Arms.
To Write Love on Her Arms in 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.
We did some quaint e-mail correspondence with the TWLOHA founder and Fourth Estate Summit speaker.
He’s a good one.
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To Write Love On Her Arms and Invisible Children have been organizational buds for a long while now. How did the relationship develop?
I reached out to IC early on – I think it was 2008 – and ended up having lunch with (IC co-founders) Jason Russell and Laren Poole in San Diego. I felt we could learn a lot from IC and basically hoped we could be friends. There’s been a relationship ever since, and over the years, my list of IC friends has grown. And it’s true for other folks on our team as well.
Beyond the individual friendships, there’s common ground when you think about the bigger picture. Both organizations began with the simple attempt to tell a story, and to meet the needs present inside that story. Both organizations value language and design, and both have seen the best of the Internet.
Both Invisible Children and TWLOHA have such a young supporter base. What is it about the modern era that inspires the pursuit of purpose-driven lives?
I think we all desire to be part of a story that’s bigger than us, to participate in things that matter. I believe we were made for that, to know people and to love people, and certainly to be known and to be loved.
What have been some of the biggest wins and losses for TWLOHA over time?
The wins would be each time we get to meet someone who tells us they’ve chosen to stay alive or chosen to get help as a result of TWLOHA, whether it was something they read on our website or something they heard at an event. The flip side of that, the literal losses, are when we hear from someone that has lost a loved one to suicide or to addiction. Both of those remind us what’s at stake. Both remind us the heart of the matter.
As an organization, our biggest moment would be winning $1,000,000 at the first-ever American Giving Awards presented by Chase. The money allowed us to take HEAVY AND LIGHT, our annual event in Orlando, to 17 cities across the country. Beyond the money and the tour, to be given that platform and recognition (on national television) was huge for us.
And then again, as an organization, there have certainly been losses along the way. Like IC, we started with a lot of momentum and visibility and there were growing pains that came with that. It took us a few years to get organized, to build a team, and to be able to articulate what we do and why we believe it matters. We had to deal with questions and criticism, especially early on. Even now, there are people who don’t see value in what we do, and often times, it’s because they don’t understand the issues we talk about.
You talk about vulnerability breeding courage. In your experience, what are some examples of this playing out?
There is a lie that suggests that people aren’t supposed to talk about things like depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. As a result, a lot of people feel alone in their struggles and in their pain. There is power in vulnerability, power in being honest, because once you say it out loud, once you admit that you’re hurting or admit that you need help, you get to realize that you’re not alone. And you get to lean on other people. We’re not about the sort of courage that says, “You can make it on your own.” We’re about the sort of courage that says, “Be honest, and then lean on other people.”
And it goes both ways. It’s not always the person struggling that we’re asking to be vulnerable. Sometimes it’s the concerned friend. For that person, being vulnerable might mean asking the hard question, attempting the honest conversation, the one that starts with, “Are you okay?”
What is the future of TWLOHA and how does that fit with the ideology behind The Fourth Estate?
We will continue to be creative and brave in bringing a message of hope, help and community to the world. That’s a broad canvas to paint on, which is something that excites me, because it means there’s a lot of freedom. I’ve always seen TWLOHA more as a creative project vs. “a non-profit organization.” Yes, we’re a non-profit but the heart of the matter is that we exist to move people – to move people from isolation to honesty, and from despair to hope and help.
Being included in The Fourth Estate Summit means a lot to me, because often times people think “justice” or “causes” or “peace” means things that happen thousands of miles away. With TWLOHA, it’s close to home. It’s about you and your family and your friends, your neighbors and classmates. And at the same time we’ve learned that people all over the world can relate to pain and struggle and feeling stuck. We’re talking about the wars inside of all of us, broken hearts and broken minds… At the end of the day, it’s all about caring for people, saying that people everywhere deserve to be free, deserve to be honest and healthy and whole.
What’s the biggest thing you’re hoping to learn or take away from The Fourth Estate Leadership Summit?
I speak at a lot of events, and I spend most of my time focused on TWLOHA. It’s exciting to be going to something, not only to speak, but also to listen and to learn about how people are helping other people, in so many different places and in so many different ways. And I plan to give Kristen Bell ChapStick, because I gave her ChapStick at an event a few years ago, and she kissed me on the cheek.
Can you give us a hint about what you’ll be speaking about at The Summit?
I don’t know yet! That’s something i’m going to talk to Jason (Russell) and Jedidiah (Jenkins) about between now and then. I love and respect those guys so much. I know that I want my talk to be different from my usual TWLOHA talk but, at the same time, there is still the goal of people leaving encouraged, people feeling less alone and feeling like it’s okay to be honest and it’s okay to ask for help. I imagine most folks come to Fourth Estate wanting to change the world, which is amazing, but I like that I might be able to suggest that it’s okay to care for yourself along the way, and it’s okay to care for your friends and family too.
Think people should hear about this?