Jean-François Lacasse

Transcript

a couple of years ago a silent battle was raging within my soul behind my smile my suit and tie was a world full of pain I was hurting but I was showing nothing I was trapped in a state of conflict fear and guilt constantly and when you have those Shadows inside you can feel so small like too many I worked the dark path of depression that silent Thief that steals Joy energy and purpose on a daily basis for millions of people it's impossible to fit in when you feel like that and it's most difficult to fit in when you're faking a perfect life I'm a

mental health Survivor the scars still remain but they serve now as a testament for human resilience and my lack of true belonging ironically here I am exposing myself in front of you pushing myself and trying to impress the gallery constantly pushing searching to get a high and to be perfect at every turn even with my French accent must be still filling up the pieces that are missing inside not this time to be honest I never thought about this team or this concept before getting into this event for me belonging was being a part of a group being a part of a gang being cool in

the Gang how many times did I I I found another place out there how many times did I try to find somewhere to be heard listen and understood Maya Angelou revealed an amazing coat someday she said to be free you need to be no place she also added wisely that uh you can be no place and at the same place at the same time in fact to True belonging what I realize is that you need to belong to yourself it's the ability to be able to go out there and say yes I'm a part of something but at the same time it's to stand up

when we need to because I belong to Jean Francois I don't belong to the others out there I belong to myself and that's the true Liberation that's the mark That's The Turning Point and when you do that you take the step forward that will propels you in another Direction I would like to add also that uh in French the word belong we can divide it in two parts the first one is B I the second one is long you know it takes time to belong it's a long road to be so can we please be not so hard on ourselves belonging isn't a destination it's

an ongoing Journey finally I would like to make a statement I would like to deliver a message out there because I also discovered that belonging can be found in unexpected places what if mental health issues were simply an invitation for you to come back home yourself and to belong for me that experience was the best gift I ever received in fact the price may be hard to pay what I can tell you the reward is great welcome back home thank you merci

Transcript generated from the recording and lightly cleaned. Some names and wording may differ from the spoken speech.