In the last few weeks we’ve certainly given people loads to talk about, and you’ve been kind enough to share your thoughts with us by email, Facebook and our Message Board, and yes, we notice that not everyone is happy with what’s been going on, but what we also notice over everything is the huge impact LifeSIGNS is having, and how we’re able to help people raise awareness about self-injury.

First, we had a great Self-Injury Awareness Day, and our popular and beautiful Factsheets we’re zipping all over the world! So many of you have sent them to friends, or printed them out for your teachers, it’s been great.

Not to mention we seem to have sold most of our Wristbands and Keyrings during the month of February! Amazing!

Then we’ve had the ‘Tell Someone’ Project, which has certainly got people talking, and even ‘coming out’ about their SI – it can’t just be about the free stickers we’re offering we know, but it’s great that so many of you have shared your ‘coming out’ stories with us, and we’ll be sure to pop them in the April edition of LifeSHINES, our Newsletter.

The Newsletter went down a treat too, and people seem to like the new name, I mean, it goes with our new Logo and everything, so that’s great.

People are also talking about our new service / feature, as we’re thrilled to have Dr. Neil on board to offer thoughts and guidance to our members within the pages of our free Newsletter. The ‘Ask Dr. Neil’ feature is going to be a fantastic addition to LifeSHINES, and won’t be an ‘Agony Uncle’ thing, rather, your letters will be answered by a qualified doctor and psychiatrist.

Still, that’s not the main thing people have been talking about – actually, the thing that’s got people’s tongues wagging has also been something that’s kept people ‘quiet’ as well if you see what I mean… Yes, LifeSIGNS has dared to talk about something that some people would rather brush away and pretend doesn’t exist – no, not self-injury this time, but masturbation. Yeah, not an easy subject to talk about, but something that, in relation to seeking release and relief from tension, we need to talk about. So yeah, while some people’s tongues are wagging and heads are shaking, we’re moving forward and looking at lots of ways to distract yourself from self-injury.

Like I said, not everyone has been best pleased with LifeSIGNS over the last few weeks, but we’re happy to listen to all our members, and we are often in deep conversation with people about how to improve our services – we learn from you guys, we learn from listening. Of course, it’s hard to hear anything useful when some people choose to shout and scream and hurl abuse – and yes, we’ve heard of the gossip that goes on within some cliques and groups, but, y’know, hatred always returns to it’s source, and well, gossip and name calling doesn’t really throw us off our game does it? Not when we’ve got so many dedicated volunteers and supporters who help LifeSIGNS be everything it is!

So, thanks to everyone for talking about LifeSIGNS, thanks for passing on our address, or for recommending our Facebook and Bebo Groups, or for distributing our Factsheets – thanks even for gossiping about us!

There’s only one thing worse than being talked about, and that’s not being talked about.