Growing up in my Hispanic family many things were swept under the rug. Emotions had to be masked. I was constantly told, I was just being dramatic and to go away! I would hide in my closet and cry for what seemed like hours alone and never could understand why was I feeling the way I was. Why were thoughts of suicide in my mind? Why did I swallow my pain and mask my tears with smiles?
Through all the pain and masking my lifestyle, I decided to go speak to a psychologist. After speaking with the psychologist I was diagnosed with major depression, anxiety, and Bipolar disorder. After being diagnosed I was prescribed anti-depressants, mood balancers and Trazadone to aide my insomnia. Medication seems to be the number one solution for all problems in American culture. I was taking the medication for about 2 or 3 months and could not understand why I felt like a zombie. I had no emotions. I could not cry when I wanted to or laugh when I thought things were funny. I decided to take myself off medication and self-heal.
Therefore, shortly after I decided to self heal through prayer, meditation, and course the arts. I practiced breathing techniques, read more books about psychology and started writing. I would write about my personal experiences from rape, self-infliction, domestic violence, and abortion. Each poem told the stories from a third person to help me sooth and acknowledge the things I’ve endured. Going through these experiences helped me embark on a different career I could have imagined.
I am embarking on a career much bigger than myself and created The Naked Foundation. The Naked Campaign focuses on battered women that have been abused via violence, women dealing with self-love challenges, women with low self-esteem issues, women who have been raped and women dealing with mental health challenges stemming from relationship-based abuse. We believe that these women can be liberated through the arts. The programs will feature a non-traditional approach that has demonstrated and know from first-hand knowledge that it works. I will also suggest and provide as needed traditional approaches to be coupled with the concepts.
Through my collaborations with other nonprofits such as; Hurt 2 Heel and Rose of Sharon; I learned that in our community one in three women report being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives. Every two minutes in the United States, someone is sexually assaulted. More than five children die every day in this country as a result of child abuse and neglect, and up to 15 million children witness domestic violence in their homes each year.
I feel like together, we can break the silence. Every day news reports of celebrities and athletes involved in abusive relationships have made it very clear that this issue knows no socio-economic, racial, or cultural boundary. But, domestic violence isn’t just “something” that happens to “someone” we may read about on the news. This is an issue affecting our friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers every day. “It’s none of my business.” These are five words that keep domestic violence as the secret killer costing thousands of lives.
I realize that there is no overnight cure for these challenges but I believe that I can assist by providing an outlet along with a variety of resources for these women. One of the most important components of the campaign will focus on self-love. Self-love is important to living well. It influences who you pick for a mate, the image you project at work, and how you cope with the problems in your life. Self-love is a state of appreciation for oneself that grows from actions that support our physical, psychological and spiritual growth. Self-love is dynamic; it grows by actions that mature us.
When we act in ways that expand self-love in us, we begin to accept much better our weaknesses as well as our strengths, have less need to explain away our shortcomings, have compassion for ourselves as human beings struggling to find personal meaning, are more centered in our life purpose and values, and expect living fulfillment through our own efforts. Alongside self-love is self-esteem.
Imagine living in a world with voices in your head that you could not escape from. Sleeping with a heavy heart with emotions that you could not control from oppressed thoughts. Living in a world where you cannot express yourself or worst you just did not know how to. Living day in and day out as if nothing traumatic has happened to you. Crying yourself to sleep because you feel as though no one understands. It’s hard to believe that one can understand, but believe there are others who have gone through what you are going through. Become vulnerable and see how life can be with the Naked Campaign.
Please connect with me on Instagram @NakedCampaign & @DeannaLiz to learn more about my campaign efforts.