Stories — Blog — Rachel Havekost

How Storytelling Saves Lives: Moving America's Soul on Suicide

For years I’ve felt the impact of shared stories in safe spaces and I fully believe that because I’ve been able to share my story and hear the stories of others, I’m still alive today. When I was invited to attend the screening of “Moving America’s Soul on Suicide,” I wanted to understand why storytelling could have such a profoundly positive impact on my mental health. How can hearing a complete stranger’s story of overcoming hardship--even if it’s a hardship I’ve never experienced--transform and illuminate my own suffering into hope and possibility?

Making Life a Living Scrapbook

Stories, RelationshipsRachel HavekostMarch 20, 2024travel, divorce, mental health, friendship, relationships, baliComment

35 Lessons From 35 Years

Today is my 35th birthday. And for the first time in a long time, I can truly say, I’m so glad I was born. I’m so glad to be alive. I’m glad that my attempts to leave didn’t work, and in honor of being 35—still alive—here are 35 lessons I’ve learned in life.

StoriesRachel HavekostDecember 29, 2023mental health, depression, trauma, healing, therapy, anxiety, dbt, self love, eating disorder, grief, relationships, friendhspComment

November Community Blog Post

Each month, I will be sharing a guest piece written by someone from my online community. November’s submissions includes a piece about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder by Saleema Lookman. The work of destigmatizing mental health is a community one, and I’m honored to share this space.

community post, Anxiety, StoriesRachel HavekostNovember 29, 2022community post, ocd, obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety, storiesComment

Curiosity, Courage, Connection, & Thoughts on Healing Culture

After 18 years of therapy, I feel…fine. Not euphoric, perfect, or “healed” like I used to aspire towards. I feel fine. In a wonderfully simple, stable, and settled kind of way. I’m fine. I’m enough. Life still throws curveballs, I get stressed, I feel insecure and fumble in conversations and struggle to go to sleep. I wonder how I’ll pay bills and freak out about a pimple. I get overly excited about french fries and spill beer…everywhere. I panic at meals sometimes and wonder if I’ll ever really love my body.

"To Live Will Be an Awfully Great Adventure"

The last time I cried at the airport I was 11 years old.

My family and I were moving halfway across the world—a move that filled me with rage for my parents & a fear of loneliness I’d never felt before.

StoriesRachel HavekostOctober 28, 2022relationships, friendship, heartbreak, divorce, love, loneliness, aloeComment

Why I Stopped Caring What People Think

I care deeply about how my actions impact those around me, and pay attention to when the limits of my responsibility are met so that I don’t extend beyond the boundary of prioritizing my wellness or maintaining integrity of my identity. Beyond these boundaries is the realm of emotional babysitting, and that is what I am no longer participating in.

Recording My Audiobook is Showing My Growth

On Monday, June 6, we got in a taxi and headed to Puerto Vallarta. We’d booked a studio and AirBnb for a week, and were as ready as we could be to embark on a project that neither of us had ever done, but one that sparked our creative juices and promised us an adventure of learning, play, and fulfillment.

Stories, Relationships, DepressionRachel HavekostJune 8, 2022stressComment

I Still Grieve, I Just Don't Shame Myself

Hopelessness. Depression. Grief. Mourning. Anxiety. Trepidation. These are the feelings that cloud my morning wake-state. The slippery space between sleeping and waking. A fog and heavy cloud of doubt and desperation that oozes my subconscious. And the not knowing if it is my real existence or just a dream.

Depression, Relationships, StoriesRachel HavekostNovember 2, 2020shame, grie, grief, depression, mental healthComment

I Am Not Your Influencer.

This weekend I took a “social media detox,” something I gravely needed after the influx of people who’ve clicked the little “follow” button under the 150 characters that are meant to showcase the human behind the machine.

Recently, my Instagram community has grown to over 11k. And while I know that’s really not much in the scheme of things, it has overwhelmed me to my core.

StoriesRachel HavekostOctober 20, 2020instagram, social mediaComment