Mental Health Awareness Month

October is Mental Health Awareness month.

At ADORN512, we have an inside understanding of what it means to live with mental health challenges. From our staff to our families, we face it first-hand every day. 

First and foremost, we see creativity. 

We see brilliance. We see solutions. We see success.

But we’ve also seen failures among the many successes.

Living with mental health challenges isn’t easy. One of the first memories I have is of my mom in the hospital. I didn’t know why. She was just there. For a long time. My dad would take us to the city for a fun dinner, on the way home we would stop at the hospital, and he would go visit her. Kids weren’t allowed. When we asked my dad about it, he would say she was “getting some help.”

I also remember very vividly when my mom returned from the hospital. She seemed different, subdued. I wasn’t sure what happened. It wasn’t until years later that I found out: my mom was diagnosed with manic depression in her late 30s, shortly after she witnessed the passing of her mother-in-law.

Those early memories of my mother, whom I love dearly while at the same time recognizing that her mental condition made things difficult for our family growing up, shaped who I’ve become. 

ADORN512 has become a safe place. A place of creativity and brilliance. A vessel for those with mental health challenges to take on the stormy seas of their world with a vengeance, navigating those rough waters by doing what they do best: creating. From designing to hand-making every piece in our collections, every staff member has a purpose.

Throughout history, many creative geniuses have been afflicted with mental illness of varying degrees. Like Vincent Van Gogh. Franz Kafka. Ernest Hemingway. Judy Garland. Charles Darwin. You get the picture. While we don’t put our creations on that same pedestal, we do believe in the brilliance of individuals who cope with mental illness. 

We also believe that mental illness should be researched and treated, when necessary. We believe that all people deserve to live their best life. And to that end, we have an ongoing relationship with NAMI, the National Association on Mental Illness. Our Morse Code Collection features the SOS line, of which 15% of all sales are donated to NAMI. 

When you support ADORN512 with a purchase, you’re supporting our staff, our families and the study of mental health. Not just in October. Every month of every year.