Y99 Experience – User review

Hello Darlings!

Peace and blessings be upon you. Today, I’d like to share why I love y99 and a bit of my experience thus far. 

In 2013, my life changed significantly. I graduated from university with a BA in English Literature and I married my soulmate. I read somewhere that you should “fall in love with someone who is both your safe place and your biggest adventure.” I’m grateful that has been the case for me. Little did I know just how much “adventure” was in store for me. 

In 2015, we left New York City. I was only twenty-five. We moved to Türkiye. My career as an English teacher abroad was just beginning. It was full of rich, new experiences like visiting my husband’s extended family in villages along the Mediterranean coast or being moved to tears finally standing inside my art history book as I soaked in the grandeur of the Blue Mosque in İstanbul.

 But leaving your country also comes with painful realities. I started over in a place far away from my sense of community. My best friends were far away and over time, we grew distant in more than just the physical space between us. The grief of losing loved ones is magnified when you can’t afford to travel back for funerals. Being a toddler in a new language can be frustrating and isolating when you are seeking new connections and cannot make yourself understood. 

I became dependent on technology in ways I hadn’t been before. Video calls to my father, updating my poetry blog from university…but I was seeking something that would allow me to meet people. It started with a simple web search and I was guided to y99. For a long time, I didn’t know how to navigate the site and spent a lot of time in the Lobby. It was fun, but a bit chaotic. 

After some exploration, I found the room that I was destined to find: The Depression and Anxiety Room. It gave me more than just the feeling of passing time online, but a sense of purpose. I could use my gifts of empathy, compassion and kind communication to offer support to those in need. 

In my time on y99, I have met many, many people from veterans, cancer patients, teachers, immigrants, religious people, atheists, transgender people, artists, writers, and even farmers. I’ve had enlightening conversations. I’ve made what I pray will be lifelong companions. Most of the time, I have the strength to offer support, but in my times of grief..the same place has welcomed me with a kind embrace in return. I will never forget having a safe space to grieve losing my father. 

One of the most difficult conversations, I’ve learned to have has been about combating depression and suicidal thoughts. The most recent statistic in my free training certification program for suicide awareness was that 700,000 people globally take their own lives. I’m not a professional. Obviously, hotlines and hospitals are important for immediate life-saving intervention. But if we all make an effort to be a kind, safe place and are brave enough to ask the difficult questions, we can save lives. 

I wrote a poem dedicated to the Depression Room:

Transformation

Let the soul

speak

let it be free to sing if it wills

Let your soul

learn

really learn

about love

let it embrace

let it dance

let it shiver in passion

we have all been fractured

slivers of our past

can pierce and bleed

I am here to dress your wounds

I am here to hold your hand

You will get through this

You will not only heal

but undergo a metamorphosis

to emerge

with fierce wings

adapted to take on life

I cannot promise you there will be no pain

But you are more resilient than you can know

Rest in your cocoon, hunny

You can return when you feel weary

Unlike the butterfly

You can transform

Many, many times

Each time

More knowledgeable and more beautiful

Than the last

Sending lots of love and Light,

BLog by – K**********s