Hello world!
Hi everyone! I am Sapphire Marshall, and Welcome to The Kindling Point. While this is a work in progress I felt that launching during Mental Health awareness was an excellent start. I created this platform to remind teens that they are never alone in what they’re feeling. So many young people, like myself, carry stress, anxiety, pressure, and pain in silence- hiding their struggles behind a smile. The Kindling Point is a safe space for honest conversations, emotional awareness, hope, and healing.
This is more than a project to me- it’s a mission born from turning pain into purpose. What many people don’t see is that I had major hurdles in life. Having a visual impairment, no depth perception limited peripheral and color blindness. I had to learn a little differently and study that much harder to be able to keep up. It also left me wearing some not so flattering eye wear over my younger years. With being “different” came the comments from my peers and sometimes even teachers. “four eyes, you fell over that on purpose, Why cant you look at me when I’m speaking to, my least favorite, use your peripheral vision.” While most don’t think these things can harm someone, they did. I isolated and only spoke to a select few people out of fear of someone saying something about my vision that I had no control over. As time went on I outgrew the need for prisims and excessively large glasses. However this was also the time where I started to stand out as an exceptional student. Yes the name calling went from one thing to another, Suck up, brown nose, snitch, teachers pet, you think you’re better than everyone else. The list goes on… I was defeated. Home life became less than perfect everyday life became a war zone, domestic violence had taken over my only safe place. Me and my mother lived with the Gotta be perfect but not get in the way where someone noticed. I learned to speak only when spoken to and run when told to. It was a breaking point that at the time I only knew I needed to escape. I didn’t know who or where to turn. One day I finally had enough and stood up for myself and my family. The war was over. Que the new found feeling of rejection and low self worth. Leaving a Domestic violence situation also translated to no longer being part of the entire family. Yes you read that correct a parent, grandparents, aunts uncles everyone chose to walk away for standing up and breaking the silence. I was in a dark place mentally struggling with self worth. I felt like I had nobody and was disposable.
Today you would not look at me and see the girl I described above unless you were there to be part of it. Over time I did find programs and resources to help with the overwhelming things life had thrown at me. With my own healing has come the want to help others. The one thing that stands out above everything was not knowing where to turn. That is where the concept of The Kindling Point began. A hub to find resources in the time of need. No matter where you are in your journey, or what path you’re on, you belong here. This hub is here and growing with resources from all over the community.
Lets turn sparks of struggle into light, healing and hope- together.
-Sapphire Marshall
Founder of the Kindling Point