I Am Greater Than My Highs and Lows: A Twitter Story

This is going to sound weird, but just hear me out, okay?

I feel like the Universe drew me back to Twitter at precisely the right time. I was gone for 18 months. I burnt out after spending 3 years of daily tweeting to build my personal brand within the millennial space. I nuked that account and, quite honestly, I thought I was done for good.

But then…a faint but persistent chirp started playing in my subconscious. It got louder and more consistent over time, eventually drawing me back to Twitter.

I wasn’t going to fly too close to the sun this time, I promised myself. I was going to be cautious of whose thoughts I allowed to enter my space.

I followed a few people who, by their “joined Twitter” date, looked like they were not a part of “Marketing Twitter” when I was first involved with it.

That small choice has led me to find several new faces in the marketing space who actually made me fall back in love with using Twitter again. One of those people was Chi (@ChiThukral), who is universally well-liked on #MarketingTwitter due to her friendly and supportive nature.

I was scrolling through my timeline back on World Mental Health Day, and I happened to see Chi’s Tweet sharing her mental health matters merch to raise money for a woman’s mental health organization in Africa.

I actually cried when I first saw it. Something about the slogan “I am greater than my highs and lows” really spoke to the depths of my soul. I was co-diagnosed with ADHD and Bipolar in 2014 at the age of 24.

The ADHD I have come to appreciate when it comes to my self-worth…the bipolar? Not so much.

I have been on meds for 7 years and I really cannot put into words how much that flashpoint moment of committing to meds changed my life for the better.

Still, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t terrified every time I mention this in an article. Will a potential client assume I am not stable enough to trust with something so sensitive as being their ghostwriter? How could I not think that?

My visceral reaction to this logo and slogan inspired me to reach out to Chi, who was gracious enough to answer some questions for me.

Why are you so passionate about mental health?

Chi: “Growing up I changed 4 schools which was not the norm for most kids here and had a difficult time with some of those changes. Later on as an adult, I chose to be an expat which also involved a lot of constant – and most unpredictable – changes.

I started becoming more aware of the toll it took on my mental health and went to therapy sessions, but it really took a turn when I had to move back home unwillingly as the pandemic hit.

As someone who always had clear plans, to be stuck somewhere I didn’t plan to be with no end in sight made me anxious. I dealt with a lot of ‘homesickness’ despite being  home Therapy was easy for me because I had studied psych and I started to realize most people didn’t view it that way.

So I used social media to express myself authentically and chat about bad mental health days just as much as I did about good. I was open about having depressive episodes because I wanted to make whoever else was feeling that way less alone.

Some days are rougher than others so I take breaks from social media because while I want to give people’s feelings a voice using my own, I also don’t want to drag them down with my energies.

It’s a balance and the reason I am passionate about being vocal for mental health is simply that I don’t want to feel alone…and in the process, if I can make someone feel less alone too, then it already makes us feel a little better. It should be normalized and I am just playing a small part in doing so!”

What is the story behind how the idea for this logo came to you?

Chi: “ I have always been obsessed with minimal design and tiny tattoos. I also work for a Japanese design magazine so it has really sharpened my skills in terms of creating/designing things minimally.

I have been trying to think of something to tattoo on my own finger for over 3 years now so I keep coming up with symbols or phrases that have powerful meanings for me but I am too afraid of needles  so I just keep them all in a folder.

The greater than and less than signs (< >) that I used in the logo were originally one of the phrases I wanted to get tattooed (I didn’t come up with the phrase, I think it’s just a popular saying) and the first draft of the design was simply “I am > than my highs and lows”. Since I love minimalism so much, it was too long and I turned it to “I’m > than my ⬆ and ⬇” but it still didn’t feel right.

So while toying with that phase and wanting to use the “>” symbol is how I came up with “I > ^ ∨” which I then worked on in photoshop to make them all of the same height.

So now it’s 4 symbols instead of that original long phrase and I don’t have to get it tattooed because I can simply wear it!”

Do you have any plans to tie this logo into any sort of extended mental health awareness campaign? If so, can you share some details?

Chi: I didn’t create the logo with that intent but when I made the merch I did want to make sure I am able to donate the profits. So far I have donated to Strong Minds, an org dedicated to helping better the mental health of women in Africa. I would love to be able to tie it in with a mental health awareness campaign – I am all for it!

What advice would you give to someone who does not yet have a mental health diagnosis, but is just starting to realize they need professional help?

Chi: Therapy is the best thing that will happen to you. Don’t give up on yourself, and if you do that’s okay because your therapist won’t give up on you – trust them and stay consistent with your sessions. Getting help to get better is a sign of being brave and independent – you really got this 🙂

 That concludes the interview. If you want to check out more about my mental health journey, I wrote about it recently in an article titled “Intention, Invictus, and the Power of Poetry: An INBOUND Story”

I want to leave you with two notes before you leave:

1 – You matter. Your mental health matters. Anyone who would ever judge you for a condition you were simply dealt by the Universe is not worth your time, personally or professionally.

2 – Whether you be a designer, writer, or any other type of creative, make your art and share it. Don’t worry about popularity. There is someone out there waiting to be impacted by it – you just have to find them.

Author Bio

Brett is a Ghostwriter who works with CEOs, startup founders, and service-based entrepreneurs to build authoritative personal brands through long-form content. He loves golf, his cats, the Yankees, and Twitter. Subscribe to his free Newsletter “Why’d That Slap?” – Examining virality Tweet by Tweet to join his journey into the psychology behind why certain Tweets resonate with enough people to go viral. You can hear more about Brett on Twitter.