By Joshua Shafer 

Writer/Reporter 

Rapper Logic’s performance of “1-800-273-8255” at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) profoundly impacted mental health care by destigmatizing conversations around suicide and tangibly driving up crisis intervention. It expanded the hotline’s reach and demonstrated the power of pop culture to save lives. The performance caused immediate spikes in crisis outreach and helped alter the trajectory of mental health care in several ways. Yet for all that national impact, the most important call is still the one you make right now from exactly where you are. 

I do not care who you are tonight, how strong you think you are, how many smiles you posted this week, or how many times you have told yourself, “I will deal with this tomorrow.” There is a weight pressing on your chest right now that does not care about your schedule. It does not care about your pride. And I am telling you with every fiber of my being that the most courageous thing you will ever do is not grit your teeth through another sleepless night; it is to reach out before you break. 

Look to your left. Look to your right. The person next to you is fighting a war you know nothing about, and so are you or someone you know. So here is my raw, unfiltered plea, to every single person reading this right now; pick up the phone. 

If the voice in your head is lying to you, telling you it is too late, that you are a burden, that nobody gets it, pick up the phone. If you see a classmate pulling away, a friend laughing a little too hard to hide the hurt, or a fellow soldier staring at the wall, pick up the phone for them. You are not alone in this. You are supported. We have local resources with real professionals who have dedicated their entire lives to catching you when you fall. 

For those of you in the East Metro, Regions Hospital in Saint Paul is not just a building; it is a lifeline. Widely accredited, they have four different secure wards designed to meet you exactly where you are: no judgment, no shame. Just across the river in Minneapolis, Fairview HealthEast offers smaller, more intimate amenities for those who need a quieter place to heal. And for my brothers and sisters in arms, my fellow veterans who carried the weight for all of us, Minneapolis VA Hospital is standing by. You knew it as 1K; now it is 1L. Same doors. Same mission. Your place to land. 

But before you dial, let me leave you with what we all desperately need to be reminded of right now. Take out politics. Take out religion. Take out the labels, the flags, the arguments, the algorithms, and every other damn thing that man has ever created for division or for distraction. Strip it all away. 

Because here is the truth: we as humans get one ride on this rock nicknamed Earth. That is, it. One. And when it is over, it is over. There are no second takes. 

And I have got a pretty good feeling that when you close your eyes for the final time, you will not be thinking about the argument you won online. You will not be thinking about the paycheck. You will finally find out what it was truly all about, and I suspect it is just love, presence, and the courage to say, “I need help,” or “I will sit with you until you do.” 

So, stop waiting for a sign. This is it. Pick up the phone. For you. For them. Or maybe this is our sign to break bread, quit saving all the breadsticks, and give them all away.