The RKD (Reflection Kills Depression) Movement Is Coming!

The Dangers Of Talking Without a Filter Via Social Media

What could possibly go wrong with an idea to come home every night and tell one unfiltered story of what happened that day, on Youtube? :)

I know I am walking into dangerous territory when I start talking without a filter, especially given the current climate. People have perfected their ability to be offended. However, I also realize that if I don't look deep enough inside, and let some dark and unfiltered stuff out of the gut and the heart, it will just be another generic dude telling stories for the sake of popularity, which misses the point.

The Birth of The Story of The Day

Last week, I just had a gut feeling that it would be a good thing for me to take a few minutes every night and tell one story from something that happened that day. I decided to go with it even though I don't have the first clue about setting a room for proper lighting, nor do I know anything about sound editing.

Finding A Movement

After the third story, I was watching one of my favorite Youtubers, 1090 Jake, a 25 year old dude that talks about his time in the Florida prison. He is only 25 years old, and I have absolutely nothing in common with his stories and his background. He is still an amazing enough of a storyteller where I have spent plenty of hungover Saturdays listening to this kid ramble for hours.

The most important thing about his storytelling occurred to me. He was ranting and raving about other Youtubers being jealous of his channel which clearly showed a lack of maturity. However, in mid-rant, he mentioned that these other guys should be using the same energy that they are using to focus on him, and put that into their own message, and their own movement. 

After eight years of having this blog, and not really ever picking a singular message or movement, I never actually thought about picking one movement to get behind.  Travel blogging would be the obvious choice. However, travel blogging just all seems the same.You go to a place, and just take a bunch of pictures of you eating a bunch of random shit, and then you just say, "It's amazing," 700 times Maybe, you could also post a Youtube Video to go along with your blog, talking about cheap places to stay. I just don't see the point. 

In the beginning, I just told stories of stuff I thought was funny. That was cool for a while. But, it also got repetitive after a while. 

I tried the satire route for a while. That was fun. But, I never would have anticipated how sensitive people get when writing satire. In one story, I talked about what I thought could clearly be seen as complete and utter bullshit about a guy  that travels all over Asia with his cat, Uno the Cat, while taking pictures of of his cat on Instagram. Sure enough , tons of people were offended by the ridiculous story and actually believed it was true. 

What Has Had The Biggest Impact On My Life?

I realized that it actually takes balls to pick a movement, or a message to get behind. But for me, it wasn't that hard to pick. The thing that has effected me the most over the years, is the amount of people close to me that have been effected by depression and anxiety. 

I'm certainly not a qualified psychiatrist. However, I feel like If people could only be made more aware of different ways to combat these kinds of disorders, they could eliminate their senseless suffering. One of the most successful ways for me to combat these two enemies is by taking time to reflect on the day behind me, and the day ahead. 

I was thirteen years old the first time a friend suffering from depression impacted my life. His name was Bradley Peters and he decided to take his life before his thirteenth birthday. I will never forget the noise that his mother made while they played Eric Clapton's Tears in Heaven during his funeral services.  I have no way of describing her sobs. 

So it's a two part plan for now. I will take a few minutes every day to tell an SOD- story of the day. At the finish of the story, I will mention my own lessons learned. Also, I will bring up one fact of the day regarding depression and anxiety disorders. For example, last week, I mentioned during one of the videos that 40 million Americans suffered from some sort of anxiety disorder last year. 

The RKD Week In Review

I have already created six videos. Feel free to watch any of them here. 

#1- 5 Things I Learned When My Neighbor Gave Me A Beautiful Hammock- MY crazy neighbor hooked me up with a new hammock in this story. 

#2-  Taiwan's Happiest Garbage Pusher- this lady who pushes garbage around Douliou City helped me put things in perspective

#3- Why It's Important To Leave The Office- I  rant a lot, and say a lot of bad words, and probably offensive things, but in the end I calm down after I realize I am not the King.

#4 From Enemy to Friend- A fairly nice story about making amends with someone. 

#5 Is Taiwan Too Easy? - A visit from my alternate personality, a drunk hillbilly. 

#6 Taiwan Drunk Story of The Day- I got drunk and told a ridiculous story. Surprisingly enough, I stuttered the least in this video out of all of 

The RKD Movement's Future Plans

What's up next? I have a horrible past of starting things and quitting. So, I am trying to keep it realistic, and also fresh. 

Week 2- I think this week I will tell seven travel stories,

Week 3- In this week, I think this week I will dedicate to some of my favorite teaching stories over the years.

Week 4- ,Maybe I can get at least one interview of somebody who has experience overcoming anxiety or depression.