Semicolon Superfan

I went to see Brooke Simpson at church last Sunday. As I spoke to her after the service, she interjected, “I like your earrings.” I said, “Thank you. There’s more to the story, eh? There’s more to come.” “Yes!” she exclaimed. “Yes!...”

A few years ago, I became a semicolon superfan. Until that point in my life, the semicolon was just a grammatical tool used to “separate two independent but related clauses or to replace the comma to separate items in a complicated list.” I was a fan of semicolon and used it often in my writing, but it wasn’t until I heard this that I became a semicolon superfan:

“The semicolon is a symbol used as a message against suicide and other mental health issues and represents choosing to start a new chapter in your life…” (Merriam-Webster)

In 2013, a movement called Project Semicolon began as a movement dedicated to presenting hope and love to those who were struggling with depression, anxiety, suicide, addiction, and self-injury. It was started to encourage, love, and inspire.

The movement chose the semicolon as its central icon because a semicolon is used when an author could've chosen to end his sentence, but didn’t.

The message, then, is that the author is the individual and the sentence is his/her life.

When someone has a tattoo or other form of a semicolon on her body, she is saying that she is choosing to finish the sentence with new life rather than letting depression, anxiety, suicide, addiction, or self-injury defeat her.

She is saying that there is more to the story and that she is choosing to write it. She is saying that there is more to come…

A good friend of mine knew that I was a semicolon superfan and gave me my earrings as a result.

Now, whenever someone sees me, they can know that I am choosing not to let my anxiety/depression defeat me; rather, I am choosing the rest of the story.

Likewise, whenever I see someone with a semicolon, I know that they are choosing the same.

God, may we each hold to the rest of the story and know that you are working with us to write it. Help us to be a people of encouragement, love, and inspiration to those who need it most, and help us to accept encouragement, love, and inspiration from those around us. I love you. And I thank you for the semicolon. Amen.