Tag: mental illness

Mardi Gras masks

Wearing the mask, also known as, living with depression.

Mariama 4 Comments

At one point in my life if you asked people in my circle, “Who is Dori Ray?” you would get a variety of responses: Successful. Excellent mother. Community activist. Dependable daughter. Howard University alumna. Budding entrepreneur. In public I was certainly all of those things. I got dressed each morning, put on one of those personas and left my house tired, broken, depressed and everyone was clueless. I continued this charade for years. However, maintaining the act was exhausting. I started each month with less strength and energy than the one before.

A Muse comes out.

Mariama 8 Comments

July 17, 1996. That was the night TWA Flight 800 crashed into the Long Island Sound. I did not know any of the 230 passengers aboard the ill-fated jetliner, yet after hearing the reports on television and reading the accounts in the newspapers my tears would not stop. I cried during the bus ride to work. My eyes welled up with tears as I emptied the dehumidifier. I got a lump in my throat when answering the phone at work. It was more than an expression of empathy for the victims and their families. The event seemed to unlock a much deeper sadness within me.