I remember being so shocked at the news of Robin Williams taking his own life. Having grown up on his movies and thinking he was the funniest, happiest, most positive person you could imagine, I just couldn't wrap my head around the idea of him actually being in such a dark place that suicide was a consideration. It woke me up to the notion that we can, unfortunately, be very good at putting up a facade that keeps people around us in the dark as to what we're really going through. 

I experienced something similar while going through my hardest year, getting positive reviews from people I work with. I hung up from an annual review thinking, “they have no idea how hard this year has been…” and I thought of Robin.

Reach out to the people you care about and ask the weird, hard, personal questions because it might just be the opportunity to talk about something that they needed.