Never Stop Exploring: The T-Shirt and the Challenge

Just being willing to go into yourself is brave. Actually making the steps is a hero’s journey.

— Fran Houston

This post was inspired by a t-shirt I received as a Christmas gift. It’s a white “Redbox” design shirt by American outdoor products company The North Face. I recognised the brand but I’ve never owned anything by TNF before. Neither can I recall owning a white shirt of any kind since the days wearing a collar and tie was de rigueur for anyone working in the civil service. These days, I wear t-shirts pretty much every day of the year no matter the weather and regardless of sartorial convention.

I have a burgeoning collection. Until a couple of years ago, most were mental health related in one way or another. As I’ve written previously, wearing t-shirts is not enough, but it can be great conversation starter and I’m proud to support the work of mental health organisations and initiatives including Time to Change, Mind, Bipolar UK, and Stigma Fighters.

In 2023 I made a conscious decision to widen my clothing repertoire to express some of my other interests. I bought shirts supporting two bands I’d recently come across: RØRY and AnnenMayKantereit (AMK). I also added a couple proclaiming my love of writing. (“LIFE IS SHORT. BLOG MORE.” and “Fountain Pen Fanatic.”) Another t-shirt bears a quotation by philosopher Albert Camus that I’ve taken very much to heart in recent years. (“The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”) I recently chose another RØRY shirt to celebrate their debut album RESTORATION, and one that proudly affirms “I Just REALLY Like Writing, OK?”

Almost all these shirts are black or dark in colour. White is a definite departure for me. Colour aside, my new “Redbox” t-shirt caught me off guard with its “Never Stop Exploring” tagline. The TNF website confirms the company’s adventuring credentials.

Named for the most challenging side of the mountain, The North Face has equipped explorers since 1966 to reach their dreams. Driven by the mantra of Never Stop Exploring(TM), our expeditions inspire us to test the outer limits of performance and possibility.

I’ve always been fascinated by adventure and exploration, especially polar exploration and mountain climbing. I spend a good deal of time watching YouTube videos devoted to mountaineering and polar exploration. The 2008 PBS documentary Storm over Everest is my favourite account of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster in which eight climbers lost their lives after being caught in a blizzard attempting to descend from the summit. For International Men’s Day last year I wrote about twelve men who exemplify qualities I admire. Three were explorers or adventurers: Robert Falcon Scott and Sir Ernest Shackleton (Leadership and Endurance), and Soviet and Kazakh climber Anatoli Boukreev who survived the 1996 Everest disaster (Devotion and Sacrifice).

In real life (whatever that means) I’m the least adventurous person I know. I’ve twice zipwired across the River Tyne for charity, but I knew I was safe and didn’t feel at all nervous or scared. In truth, I was more nervous riding the Ultimate roller coaster at Lightwater Valley Family Adventure Park, which was the longest roller coaster in the world when it opened in 1991. My one claim to adventure is that I once climbed the 1,085 metre peak of Snowdon (Welsh: Yr Wyddfa) via the perilous Crib Gogh arête. I say adventure but stupidity would be a better label. I had no business being on so perilous a ridge at all.

So much for adventure. What about exploration? Unlike most people I’ve ever met, I’ve never been interested in travel or seeing the world. I’ve left the mainland of Great Britain twice: a week-long childhood holiday on the Isle of Man, and a day trip to the Isle of Wight in 1983. I once declined the opportunity to travel to Cairo for a research conference, much to my professors annoyance and my colleagues’ disbelief. I didn’t have a passport at the time and it would have been difficult to arrange one in time, but my refusal was instinctive and absolute. I registered for a passport in 2013 just in case it ever came in useful, but it expired without ever being used. I’ve no plans to renew it.

These days, I scarcely leave my local area except to travel into the office two days a week. I went into Newcastle once last year, to see a J. M. W. Turner exhibition at the Laing Art Gallery. It was my first trip into the city in more than two years, apart from my covid jab late in 2022 and two opticians appointments during 2023. I visited my friend and fellow blogger Aimee Wilson several times through the year and accompanied her to an engagement party (big shoutout to Jack and Spencer!) and a mental health event at the coast. I spent a week in the Lake District and took a few day trips. Other than that my time was spent very close to home. As the saying goes, “I don’t get out much.” But this is very much by choice. As I described in Not Doing Things Is a Thing I Do Now, exploration for me takes other forms.

[Exploring] is what I’m doing, internally, when I’m not out there doing stuff. Doing stuff can be fun, exciting, and healthy. It can also be a distraction from what’s really going on. Slowing down, withdrawing from doing and going, offers me the opportunity to examine what’s important to me and what isn’t.

This is, arguably, a form of asceticism.

Ascetic
Adjective: characterised by severe self-discipline and abstention from all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons.
Noun: a person who follows an ascetic life.

In my case, it’s not religious in nature. I’ve declared my atheism previously in such posts as IMHO: A Guide for Opinionated Bloggers and Reasons to Celebrate? A Brit’s Thoughts on Thanksgiving. It’s rather more philosophical in nature, aligning with my — admittedly partial — understanding of Camus’ doctrine of absurdism. For now at least, it suits me to spend my free time exploring my thoughts, opinions, and values in conversation with close friends and family, in the pages of my diary which I’ve kept for the past fifty years, and in my weekly blog posts. In doing so, I believe I’m being true to Fran’s observation which I quoted at the start of this article.

Just being willing to go into yourself is brave. Actually making the steps is a hero’s journey.

She wrote those words for herself as much as for me. They open chapter 9 of our book High Tide Low Tide which covers Fran’s three month road trip around Europe with her parents in the summer of 2013. It was a desperate time for Fran. It brought her to the very edge of despair and illness, with only occasional interludes of clarity and joy. I accompanied and supported her every day from here in the UK. I provided a point of stability and relative calm amidst the chaos of her adventure. It tested and proved our commitment as friends, and taught me a great deal about inner and outer adventuring and exploration.

On another occasion, Fran captured our respective perspectives on adventure perfectly. “I’m a gypsy,” she said. “No matter how hard the traveling is I still go, again and again. You are a comfort creature traveling vicariously.” Never were truer words spoken. In the years we’ve been friends, I’ve been Fran’s virtual travel companion on trips all over the world, including Mexico, Hawaii, The Bahamas, Panama, Spain, Germany, Austria, The Netherlands, Norway, Iceland, Greenland, and Canada. The final four were brief stops on her return cruise to the US from Amsterdam in 2013. I’ve learned a great deal about myself and the world with Fran and other friends; not just by seeing the world through their eyes but also in terms of relationships, health and illness, and caring support. I explored the benefits — and perils — of vicarious living in Second-hand Experience: If a Life’s Worth Living, It’s Worth Living Vicariously.

I love my new TNF t-shirt. I will wear it without any sense of irony as I go about my little life on my little adventures. I’m wearing it now, writing this at my favourite table in my local coffee shop. This is what Never Stop Exploring means to me. I’m good with that.

 

A Note on the Photograph

The photograph I chose to illustrate this article is by Samura Silva on Unsplash. Taken in Athens, Greece, its labels include Walking, Never Stop Exploring, Walk, People, Travel, Explore, Human, Person, City, Road, and Street. It captures the mood of my article perfectly. For one thing, the person in the photo is wearing the exact t-shirt I was gifted. It also appears that they’re standing in the street as people walk by, stationary in the midst of all that’s happening around them. Whatever exploration they’re engaged in is, for the moment, internal.

 

We Are Only Asked to Love: Celebrating 18 Years of TWLOHA

We are only asked to love, to offer hope to the many hopeless.

— Jamie Tworkowski, “To Write Love on Her Arms”

It’s a commonplace that wearing t-shirts is not enough. It takes more than a pithy slogan or eye-catching design to effect real and lasting change in the world. That said, mental health merchandise can prove a conversation starter, and open the door to genuine and open exchange. I’ve acquired quite a collection over the years. Mostly t-shirts but I also have two excellent hoodies from BOYS GET SAD TOO. I wear them all with pride, but I figured I didn’t need any more. But when an ad by mental health non-profit To Write Love On Her Arms crossed my screen recently, I couldn’t resist.

I knew very little about the organisation, but I placed my order within minutes. The t-shirt arrived a week or so later. The carefully packed box included a bookmark and a booklet describing what TWLOHA are all about. The shirt itself is undoubtedly eye-catching. As well as the main message — How Are You REALLY Doing? — in huge letters on the front there’s a smaller reminder (“You deserve the space to be honest.”) and the TWLOHA logo on the back.

Less expected were the words printed inside the garment.

Your feelings are allowed to exist without judgment. You are more than the pain and trauma you may have inherited. You are living proof of generational hope and resilience, of strength and community carried through the years. Your honest and vulnerable self is worth loving, and your voice deserves to be heard.

It’s the kind of touch that tells me they’re not just on the mental health merchandise bandwagon. They know what they’re doing. And they care. A visit to their website reveals their mission statement.

To Write Love On Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire, and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery.

The TWLOHA journey began with a story. Literally, in that their name comes from the title of a story written by founder Jamie Tworkowski about helping a friend deal with addiction, depression, self-injury, and suicidal thoughts. The story is full of Christian imagery which I personally find difficult. However, the website makes it clear that it’s not a religious or faith-based organisation. “TWLOHA believes that mental health care should be available and accessible to all regardless of religion, belief, gender, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, or financial status.”

Religious overtones aside, Jamie’s telling of his friend’s story is powerful and moving. There’s a good deal I can relate to, from my experience being a supportive friend to Fran and others. They‘re clearly doing something right because TWLOHA has just celebrated its eighteenth anniversary and is active in many areas. There’s too much for me to cover in detail, but I’ll highlight a few things that caught my attention.

The TWLOHA Store
In addition to t-shirts and hoodies, they sell a wide range of garments and merchandise. These include stickers, greetings cards, mugs, magnets, keyring, and journals. They offer gift cards if you want to treat a friend but aren’t sure what they’d choose.

The TWLOHA Blog
According to their website, TWLOHA has shared over 1,100 blog posts, and their weekly blog is well worth a visit. They welcome guest submissions, see their FAQ page for details.

The TWLOHA Podcast
Recent podcast episodes include such topics as suicide loss and sibling grief, the woes of using fashion as a mental health check, therapy deserts, body dysmorphia, and burnout.

Self-care
It’s great to see a page devoted to self-care ideas and techniques. These include suggestions you can try in the moment, as well as longer term strategies to take care of yourself.

Find Help
The main search tool on their Find Help page is US-based, but there’s also a link to international support organisations. For the UK, this is the crisis text line SHOUT, and the Samaritans.

The Hopeful
TWLOHA have their own free (and ad-free) app called The Hopeful, focused on self-care, awareness, and connection. There are links to TWLOHA blog posts and podcast episodes, a mood and gratitude journal, and the option of daily notifications and reminders. I’ve only used it for a couple of days but I like the layout and I can see it being a helpful and accessible resource.

All in all, I’m incredibly impressed by everything that TWLOHA have achieved in the past eighteen years and wish them all success in the future. It’s clear from the feedback on their social media posts that they have a brilliant rapport and connection with their supporters. That’s great to see. On a personal note, I commented on one of their posts the other day to congratulate TWLOHA on their anniversary and received a very warm reply. That kind of engagement is incredibly important. I look forward to exploring their content more fully, and perhaps submiting something for their blog.

I’ll close with an excerpt from an article I wrote back in 2020 titled Wearing T-Shirts Is Not Enough. The message is no less relevant to me today and I believe it speaks to the spirit and vision of TWLOHA.

I will go on supporting Fran in all she does and sharing our story because the story of how a well one and an ill one manage their friendship needs to be heard. I will champion all who are doing their own amazing things. I will call out stigma and discrimination wherever I find it. And I will wear my t-shirts with pride. It isn’t enough, no. Not on its own. But it can be part of enough. Because you never know when a KEEP TALKING ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH shirt might spark a conversation; might give someone confidence and permission to open up or ask for help.

You can find TWLOHA on their website, Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

 

Photo by Shaira Dela Peña on Unsplash.