Kevin Breel
Biography:
Kevin Breel almost made a mistake of taking his own life away. The idea of suicide seemed like decent solution to a horrible problem. That problem was a gripping Depression, an overwhelming sense of loneliness and a struggle to find any sort of lasting fulfillment in life that wasn't because of drugs or alcohol. So, he sat in his room and wrote his suicide note. It felt weird for him to put a pen to paper again to reopen a door that for a long time that he wanted to stay as shut as possible. But in other ways, it seems fitting because this year has been the first year that he has ever been willing to open that door and see whats waiting on the other side of it. Turns out the other side of it isn't so scary. He guesses he found the same to be true of life since Feb 26,2011. He used to think that joy was going to come find him. Now he realized you have to go find it. You have to take chances; on opportunities, on moments, on people. You have to love harder than you think you can; with people, with your faith, with yourself.
Kevin Breel almost made a mistake of taking his own life away. The idea of suicide seemed like decent solution to a horrible problem. That problem was a gripping Depression, an overwhelming sense of loneliness and a struggle to find any sort of lasting fulfillment in life that wasn't because of drugs or alcohol. So, he sat in his room and wrote his suicide note. It felt weird for him to put a pen to paper again to reopen a door that for a long time that he wanted to stay as shut as possible. But in other ways, it seems fitting because this year has been the first year that he has ever been willing to open that door and see whats waiting on the other side of it. Turns out the other side of it isn't so scary. He guesses he found the same to be true of life since Feb 26,2011. He used to think that joy was going to come find him. Now he realized you have to go find it. You have to take chances; on opportunities, on moments, on people. You have to love harder than you think you can; with people, with your faith, with yourself.
The Calling:
His calling was dealing with his Depression and almost committing suicide. What he ended up finding was simple. He found out that our deepest struggles don’t have to be our deepest secrets. He found out sometimes you just need to go see your counselor or talk to some one. He found out that love waiting for you as soon as you stop waiting for it and go out there and grab it. He guesses more than anything he found out life can be good. Scars heal, bruises fades. Things that were broken get fixed and time gives us all the gift of acceptance; whether we’re happy about it or not. It turns out, it’s pretty easy to walk away from a night where you want to end it all. The hard part is finding a reason powerful enough not to walk back. His reasons are pretty simple: He loves his family. He loves his friends. He loves being a work in progress. And he believes in second chances, in comebacks and in redemption. Today, He is not the same person that wrote that suicide note just a couple of years ago.
His calling was dealing with his Depression and almost committing suicide. What he ended up finding was simple. He found out that our deepest struggles don’t have to be our deepest secrets. He found out sometimes you just need to go see your counselor or talk to some one. He found out that love waiting for you as soon as you stop waiting for it and go out there and grab it. He guesses more than anything he found out life can be good. Scars heal, bruises fades. Things that were broken get fixed and time gives us all the gift of acceptance; whether we’re happy about it or not. It turns out, it’s pretty easy to walk away from a night where you want to end it all. The hard part is finding a reason powerful enough not to walk back. His reasons are pretty simple: He loves his family. He loves his friends. He loves being a work in progress. And he believes in second chances, in comebacks and in redemption. Today, He is not the same person that wrote that suicide note just a couple of years ago.
Turmoil:
Kevin still suffers from Depression. Him being the road has its good days and his days where he feels depressed. Things are for him different. His life is different as well. He has been blessed to travel the world, to get to do work that he believes in and to literally live his dreams that he had as a kid. He has incredible family, friends and community. They are all talented, flawed people who wear their imperfections all over them; the same as he wear all over him. One time he was in an airport in Seattle. When Kevin met a young guy who was a university student and the student knew some of Kevin's story. He asked if he could buy him a coffee and Kevin said I only drink tea. The student called him a ‘typical Canadian’ and Kevin laughed, despite not knowing if that really is very Canadian to only drink tea. Then the student asked Kevin if could ask him a personal question. Kevin said yes. He asked “Is it hard to talk about almost killing yourself?”. Kevin guesses the short answer would be yes. But he believes the better answer is that he would be much more uncomfortable if he didn't talk about it. He can’t hide from his past. He can’t change any of it either. And quite honestly, he might not have a desire to anyways. He knows who he is and he is okay with it. That's the biggest change that you can ever ask yourself to make; to stop hating who you are and just love yourself. To love your story and the messy parts of it.
Kevin still suffers from Depression. Him being the road has its good days and his days where he feels depressed. Things are for him different. His life is different as well. He has been blessed to travel the world, to get to do work that he believes in and to literally live his dreams that he had as a kid. He has incredible family, friends and community. They are all talented, flawed people who wear their imperfections all over them; the same as he wear all over him. One time he was in an airport in Seattle. When Kevin met a young guy who was a university student and the student knew some of Kevin's story. He asked if he could buy him a coffee and Kevin said I only drink tea. The student called him a ‘typical Canadian’ and Kevin laughed, despite not knowing if that really is very Canadian to only drink tea. Then the student asked Kevin if could ask him a personal question. Kevin said yes. He asked “Is it hard to talk about almost killing yourself?”. Kevin guesses the short answer would be yes. But he believes the better answer is that he would be much more uncomfortable if he didn't talk about it. He can’t hide from his past. He can’t change any of it either. And quite honestly, he might not have a desire to anyways. He knows who he is and he is okay with it. That's the biggest change that you can ever ask yourself to make; to stop hating who you are and just love yourself. To love your story and the messy parts of it.
Time of Crisis:
Kevin almost took his own life away. The idea of suicide seemed like decent solution at that time. That problem was Depression, an overwhelming sense of loneliness and a struggle to find any sort of lasting fulfillment in life that wasn't because of drugs or alcohol. So, he sat in his room and wrote his suicide note. No madder how much Kevin was hurting on the in side he would hide it from his parents and family. You will like at Kevin and not know that he has Depression because his life seems so good from. Living his dreams, being a good friend, being a stand up comic and etc. That's what he family and friends would say. That's is what every one else sees in his life. In life he sees who he really is, a person dealing intensely with depression. He has been deal with it for the last six years of his life, and he continues to deal with its every day.
Kevin almost took his own life away. The idea of suicide seemed like decent solution at that time. That problem was Depression, an overwhelming sense of loneliness and a struggle to find any sort of lasting fulfillment in life that wasn't because of drugs or alcohol. So, he sat in his room and wrote his suicide note. No madder how much Kevin was hurting on the in side he would hide it from his parents and family. You will like at Kevin and not know that he has Depression because his life seems so good from. Living his dreams, being a good friend, being a stand up comic and etc. That's what he family and friends would say. That's is what every one else sees in his life. In life he sees who he really is, a person dealing intensely with depression. He has been deal with it for the last six years of his life, and he continues to deal with its every day.
Spokesperson taking action:
Kevin is taking action by writing a book with Random House Publishing that's coming out in September 15th, 2015. As a mental health activist Kevin has been a guest speaker more than 100 college campuses. Also, he is that National Spokesperson for the Bell LET`S TALK Campaign. His work has been featured by The Huffington Post, MTV, CNN, The TODAY Show on NBC, Mashable and The Wall Street Journal. When Kevin was 19 years old he spoke at Ted talks "Confessions of a Depressed Comic" went instantly viral online. It continued to go on to amass more than 3,000,000 viewers and showed on more than 200+ media outlets. Mashable called "One of the moments that brought the world together" and the Huffington Post said the talk was "Simply amazing". Now, Kevin's talk (which is one of the most watched TED talks ever- along side talks from the likes of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Sir Ken Robinson) has launched him in to doing more activism than ever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Qe8cR4Jl10
Kevin is taking action by writing a book with Random House Publishing that's coming out in September 15th, 2015. As a mental health activist Kevin has been a guest speaker more than 100 college campuses. Also, he is that National Spokesperson for the Bell LET`S TALK Campaign. His work has been featured by The Huffington Post, MTV, CNN, The TODAY Show on NBC, Mashable and The Wall Street Journal. When Kevin was 19 years old he spoke at Ted talks "Confessions of a Depressed Comic" went instantly viral online. It continued to go on to amass more than 3,000,000 viewers and showed on more than 200+ media outlets. Mashable called "One of the moments that brought the world together" and the Huffington Post said the talk was "Simply amazing". Now, Kevin's talk (which is one of the most watched TED talks ever- along side talks from the likes of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Sir Ken Robinson) has launched him in to doing more activism than ever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Qe8cR4Jl10