​So, last night I watched Bird Box and I have been thinking non-stop about the underlying messaging and how our society views it. Don’t get me wrong, I, just like many of us, have personally sent and laughed at memes talking about the blindfolds. However, the topic of MENTAL HEALTH has continued to ring in my head nonstop. 
 
The vilification of people with mental illness by Hollywood is not a new thing… However, Bird Box seems to wear this stigmatization and its sensationalization of suicide like a badge of gritty honor.
 
MENTAL HEALTH is a real thing and it seems that our society wants to always put a “blindfold” on, so as to hide their eyes from seeing it. Bird Box imagines a world stalked by monsters that drive people to commit suicide at their mere sight. These monsters are reflective of the demons that people, who are suffering from depression, battle on daily basis. People struggle with family issues or with people they work with, while some hear voices of their past.
 
Everyone is affected once they take the blindfold off… Everyone, that is, except those with mental illnesses. Instead of killing themselves in gratuitously gory ways like all the "normal" characters, people with mental illnesses become literal agents of evil, obsessed with carrying out the monsters' mission to destroy humanity. 
 
The examples of the above effect are seen explicitly in characters dealing with mental illness --former patients from a mental hospital, plus a grocery store clerk described as having gone "to prison and always a bit crazy."
 
Now let’s bring this to real life. In the past week, my family received news of someone close who had committed suicide. While discussing this during our family gathering over the holidays, my cousin volunteered that every time something like this happens, she sits her kids down and talks to them about suicide and depression so they are well aware of it. While I applauded her views and education of her children, I feel that this conversation happening way too frequently in our society. 
 
This is why we are taking MENTAL HEALTH head on at Curis Functional Health. We have launched Curis a few months back and now have three locations in North Texas (with more coming soon). These locations are filled with some of the best counselors out there that focus on topics from depression, addiction, marital issues to grief and more. 
 
MENTAL HEALTH is a serious topic and if you or someone you know is dealing with any problems, please let us know. You can find more information and us at GoCuris.com. 
 

Some people say I bleed orange and tomorrow will mark 4 years that I can say I have done that. When I walked through the TangoTab doors in 2012 I would have never guessed that the following four years would be this good. I have met some amazing people through this journey and experienced things I will be forever grateful for.

At the end of the day I still have the same mission that I had when I started and that is the same mission the TangoTab team has... to END HUNGER! And let me make this clear, when I say TangoTab team I mean every single person that uses the app, every person that comes to Feed The City events, every person that stands by us in this journey.

​To date we have fed 1.3 million people in need. That sounds great, but we have a lot of work to do and I know together we can make it happen. Here's to 4 more years, millions of more people fed and most of all ending hunger.