From the beginning, I wanted Still I Run to become a community. I wanted it to be a place where people can go to talk to others who run for mental health and also intimately know the struggles of having a mental health condition. It’s hard to do that though when we’re spread all over the world. We have pockets of Still I Run community members that can get together with one another in real life but until we grow to a more substantial size, there are a lot of you that are isolated.
To help remedy that isolation, we have a closed Facebook group. It’s called Still I Run – Running Inspiration Group. It’s different from the Facebook page because everything in the group is curated by YOU. People use it to post about their training runs, upcoming races, and personal goals. However, the group goes deeper than that.
Because the Facebook group is closed, everything a person posts there stays within the group. It does NOT end up in your friends’ newsfeeds. The only way someone will see what you post in that group is if they are a part of the group themselves. With the privacy of the closed group, we have people sharing their personal struggles and also asking for advice on how to keep motivated when it’s hard to get out of the bed each morning. People in this group are raw, truthful, and vulnerable. Most likely, when you join, you’ll see someone post something that really resonates with you because you know EXACTLY what they’re going through.
For example, just the other day, someone posted about their social anxiety. The way this person spoke about their anxiety made me realize that I too feel the same way. I honestly had no idea others felt the same way! It was great to make that personal connection with someone and it further drove home the point that we’re not alone.
Since the closed group launched a few months ago, I’ve personally seen so many wonderful connections happen. I’ve seen people lift each other up when the going gets tough. This isn’t just another running group on Facebook. This is a group that is first and foremost about the people that make it a community. I hope you’ll join us because I think you’ll really feel inspired and motivated by the people you virtually meet there! 🙂
