A Conversation on Our “Blue Thoughts”

Openly discussing mental health is a vital part of understanding ourselves, those around us, and our society today. In order to dissipate the existing stigma around the subject, music idols have begun to make listeners feel less alone when it comes to mental health and have helped create a conversation around it.

Written by Maride Espada

Electropop musician Lauv, whose song “I Like Me Better” skyrocketed him to fame, has pushed the limits on what it means to keep the mental health conversation going. At the beginning of each of his concerts on tour, he has begun what he calls “My Blue Thoughts Booth.” For this project, he partnered with Microsoft to help his fans talk about their emotions in a society where this is often discouraged. Within this booth, fans are given a private space to themselves and their thoughts, which can be said out loud or written on a Microsoft screen. This technology deciphers these feelings and focuses on certain words in order to find the meaning behind them. Once this occurs, the screen in the booth portrays a map with lights around the world, representing someone who has expressed these same feelings to show that they are not alone. Lauv states that “with MyBlueThoughts.World, no matter where people are in the world, they can see that someone else is experiencing something really similar or exactly the same.” Even if we don’t attend a Lauv concert, we all still have our own “blue thoughts” that we feel the need to release into the world — and we can. A website was created for listeners to experience this through their computer screens at home.

This, however, is not all that Lauv has done in order to end the stigma around mental health. He released a single on his compilation album I Met You When I Was 18 titled, “Sad Forever,” in which he sings of his struggle with mental illness and his fatigue in the battle to overcome it. All of the proceeds he makes from this song will be donated to a variety of mental health organizations, including San Francisco-based Bring Change to Mind and U.K.-based Time to Change, among many others.

On World Mental Health Day 2019, Lauv’s Blue Boy Foundation and YouTube collaborated to bring viewers a talk on health. The video includes musician Noah Cyrus as well as representatives from the Jed Foundation, a nonprofit that aims to prevent suicide and help teens with their mental health. It is a beautiful, raw, and vulnerable talk on living with depression and mental health on a day-to-day basis. It also includes tips on how to deal with these emotions, providing viewers with an open community and conversation for all.

Image courtesy of Rolling Stone Magazine

Cyrus has also become a huge part of the mental health movement, particularly with the release of her single “Lonely.” In this song, the lyrics portray her in a dark time in her life in which she felt the struggles of feeling lost. The song’s music video gives a powerful and real message. Within the video, she is shown floating above a chorus of people who try to reach out to help her, but she ultimately ignores them, portraying the raw sadness and isolation felt by many people around the world. “Sometimes there can be dozens of people around you but you still feel lonely,” Cyrus said in an interview explaining the video’s concept. “I wanted the video to show what it could really feel like.”

It’s shocking to see this feeling of isolation is also felt by celebrities, who are seemingly untouchable humans. However, Cyrus and Lauv show us that they, too, can break sometimes.

Continuing to push back against the mental health stigma, Cyrus has released a clothing line titled “Lonely,” after her song. All of the proceeds of the collection go to the Jed Foundation. The clothes state “Crystal Campaign” in large white letters, which is the name of a campaign that Cyrus collaborated with for this line. Their aim is to “remove the stigma of mental health and help stop this critical issue.”

This issue is one that needs to be talked about, and we can all be the start of that. Lauv and Cyrus have begun the conversation — let’s help keep it going. Through the Blue Boy Foundation and lyrical ballads of depression, the steps that artists are starting to make allows listeners know that struggling with mental health is not something to be ashamed of.