Irreverent Warriors Greensboro, NC

Hi friends — if you haven’t had the opportunity to meet me in the real world yet, let me preface this blog by telling you a little bit about Irreverent Warriors. This non-profit organization seeks to end veteran suicide by connecting veterans & giving them a community — one that thrives off of dark humor, vulgar language, & tiny little shorts.

Anyways. I became involved with IW about a year ago & have since done hikes all over the Southeast & am now part of the coordinating team for my local hike. It’s all happened very fast, to say the least, but it’s also, been nothing short of an incredible experience for me & all those I have met along the way!

You see — veterans have this shared understanding of some of the shittiest parts of the world & human kind, which has nothing to do with if they deployed or were on the front lines of battle — we share this knowledge because of the general way of life we are subjected to, in service.

Don’t get me wrong — despite the shitty stuff I encountered while on active duty, you wouldn’t have to ask me twice about going back, because I never felt more in the place I belonged, than when I was putting on the uniform that made me look like a pre-pubescent boy. Even then — I wouldn’t change it, because it was part of my story.

So the hike in Greensboro was kind of interesting for me, overall. For one — I got to meet up with a buddy I did some training with & getting to connect with him about our lives since, was just the coolest thing ever. BUT I also met a woman, an incredible woman, who has been through some of the most insane stuff.

A mutual friend of ours connected us on the hike & much to my surprise, she kind of needed me. Not like she couldn’t fight for herself — it definitely wasn’t that — she’s just tired of having to fight alone. & that part truly broke me because I realized that feeling wasn’t foreign to me — I knew it well. I also know how common that feeling is for others.

So I took this moment to offer my new friend a safe place for her to land & unload all of those awful things. I stood up for her, without hesitation, because that is something I always wanted somebody to do for me. Helping others has never been a question for me, but I have always wondered why it seemed like a question for others.

I guess one of the biggest things I took away from this weekend was the idea that there is no certain environment, or type of person, or life circumstances that decide a person will experience terrible things. Sure, those factors can contribute to an increased risk of such events, but trauma is not reserved for a certain type of person.

It is also important to note that, despite the presence of ‘predisposing factors’— no person deserves the trauma that they endured, nor was it unimportant because of who they were or what they looked like. Even though, we would sometimes like to assume we know what people have been through—

The truth is, we don’t really know. This alone, is reason enough for us to show kindness every chance we get. Nobody is perfect and nobody will do it right every time. Hell, I know that I haven’t and I won’t again, but we have to try because that could save somebody else’s life.