Getting Through by Getting Through: A Note for Men's Mental Health Month

I've been thinking about what it means to keep going when the weight doesn't lift.

This month — Men's Mental Health Awareness Month — hits close. Not because I've cracked the code on how to deal with the darkness but because I haven't. Not really. I just keep showing up. I keep making.

Creation is my therapy. The lens, the light, the way a shadow moves across a face or a frame — that's where I exhale. But let's not sugarcoat it. Sometimes, even the things that usually save me feel heavy, too.

Living in a city where I don't have a crew outside my wife and family for over two decades makes it more challenging. No drop-in chats. No late-night hangs. No shared silences with someone who just gets it. The pressure doesn't let up — expectations, deadlines, responsibilities — they stack like bricks on your chest. There are days it feels like I'm being buried alive under "shoulds" and "why aren't yous."

And still... I get through.

Some days, it's just about that — getting through by getting through. No inspiration, no significant breakthroughs, just the discipline of not giving up.

What helps?

Lately, I've been outlining future plans and various online training — ideas that might take shape someday as I keep moving forward. I dive deep into research, let new thoughts flood the empty spaces, and look for sparks in articles, books, and moments that make me curious again. Curiosity is underrated. It's been my rope in the dark more times than I can count.

Creation is still there, too — not always joyful, not always easy — but a reminder that I can make something from nothing, even when I feel like I have nothing to give.

So, if you're like me — building quietly in the background, carrying more than you show, navigating without a map — I see you.

This post isn't wrapped in a bow. There's no breakthrough ending or viral advice. Just this truth: You're not the only one trying to make meaning out of the mess. And sometimes, that has to be enough.

Keep creating. Keep researching. Keep going.

We get through. Together, even when it feels like we're alone.