Ubuntu. I am because we are.

'When was the last time you felt privileged?' Gill Tiney , CEO of Collaboration Global and Co-Organizer of World Mental Health Forum 2024 , asked.

My spontaneous answer: All of WMHF2024 week long. What an emotional and insightful ride it has been for Margot Azmann and me, with plenty of laughing and crying and moments of pure inspiration coming from each of you. Thank you so much Gill and Collaboration Global for co-organizing and sponsoring our premiere event, with many to follow in the coming years.

Gill Tiney: It was a joy, Harald, and I was so proud to share this amazing experience with my community. https://lnkd.in/d7XVrS5r

So what do you get when you invite 30+ speakers from around the world to talk about their lived experience and what they are inspired most to share with others at this particular moment in time? Pure inspiration and unbelievable energy. Speakers included:

Dr. Konstantin Pavlidis PhD Live stream of?Global Mental Health Summit and Awards 2024?at?The Oxford Union Society, organized by Non-Resident Indians?NRI Welfare Society of India?and?Orassy Mind Health Academy ? Emer O’Donnell Understanding Teen Stress And Anxiety. Empowering young people to live lives they love ? Mitali Deypurkaystha From Pain To Purpose. Writing a book to heal (yourself and others) ? Sara Challice Who Cares? Why 70% of carers fall mentally or physically ill and what we can do to improve their wellbeing ? Annette Ramrattan A Smile Can Change Your Life. From isolation to illumination ? Michelle J. Howe The Empathy Paradigm. Why feeling and healing are essential to personal, interpersonal, and professional success ? Stanley Dietrich Living With Intention. Imagination is the only limitation to transformation ? Gina Gardiner It's Not Your Fault. Understanding and tackling homelessness with Bianca Robinson , CEO of CEO Sleepout UK ? Fatima Whitbread MBE OLY Transforming Lives In The Care System. A call to action! ? Caroline Roodhouse Book launch of 'Daddy Blackbird: the true story of a family surviving and thriving after loss by suicide' on October 10, 2024 ? Joel Schwan Australia's National R U OK Day. A conversation can change a life. www.vimeo.com/976180726 | www.ruok.org.au

Paulette Hallam Special Edition of LinkedIn Mental Wellness Cafe with Ellen Roome and joolslaw.co.uk . Parents needing answers regarding the suicide of their child ? Zoie Golding MBE Let's Dance! Connecting through the power of movement ? John Hibbs The Secret of Life ? Mark Walmsley Arts and Culture Network. How well-connected are you? ? Ian Tenenbaum ADHD Productivity Secrets for Entrepreneurs and High Achievers ? Dr. Malika Nanda 'Bonding With Gen Z @ Work'. A must-read for employers seeking to retain top talent ? Paul Emery Uncommon Methods For Uncommon Results ? Chris Coulter Wake Up! You could lose your teen to suicide ? Ian Gibbs-Hall Consumed by Depression ? Nigel Linacre Author of 'The Grief Opera. Transforming loss into love' ? Dr. Lizzy Bernthal Rising Above Adversity ? Nikki Finucan Helping You Fit Where You belong ? Gill Tiney Fireside Discussion: What Happened? We've all been through the rough times. How did we find the good times? ? Harald Walter Azmann There Is No 'Positivity' Or 'Negativity'. The glory of what is with Alan Watts. https://lnkd.in/dyRF7QSg ? Margot Azmann True Love. It's far from what we usually think it is with Maksim/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Julian Kershaw – Somewhere in Time and Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī quotes. https://lnkd.in/d47VB7A8 If we are looking for anything in return, that's a transaction. Are we in business with those we are convinced we love?

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In a recent LinkedIn post, Gina Gardiner reminded us: 'A mother's love liberates.' Exactly, though I would of course include fathers, too, and add: Love in general does nothing but liberate. Love and liberty are one. Freedom is the fundamental nature of love. Everything else is merely conditional and transactional, which true love never wants to be mistaken for.

My favorite personal takeaway from this week full of stardust? Love is, all the time, and then we get in the way, Nigel Linacre author of 'The Grief Opera. Transforming loss into love' after the death by suicide of his son, George, said. Love means life. To live is to love. So we might as well take this a step further and say, Life is, all the time, and then we get in the way.

I always believed that we already have all the personal talents and tools we need to live a thoroughly constructive life within us, no matter what we choose to go through on this planet. Indeed, we are incredibly courageous, self-learning beings. There are more than 8 billion ways to live and in the end, after all is said said and done, it will be nothing but pure joy to watch each of us walking through this proverbial 'valley of the shadow of death' in our very own ways.

As this week's theme encouraged us to do, always remember that whatever you are facing and called upon to deal with at this time, IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT, but ultimately our responsibility to respond in the most constructive way that we are capable of – and the human being is very capable. We do what we can do each day, tomorrow we'll be even better, and I believe that upon embracing death, we aren't going anywhere. We aren't returning to source because we never left, and our entire existence on planet Earth isn't about life and death, but birth and death. Life is.

How powerful and majestic can a small seed, given nourishment and time, grow to be? The smallest seeds capable of becoming Earth's largest living creatures are of the coast redwood (Sequoiadendron Giganteum). They are tiny, about the size of a grain of rice, but have the potential to grow into massive giants, reaching heights of over 107 meters (350 feet).

This year, we weren't invited to visit and physically present the World Mental Health Forum 2024 anywhere. Maybe in 2025 it will already be a completely different story. But in any case, either virtually or physically, we will continue bringing voices of constructive change, YOUR VOICES, together from around the world. Want to be considered to be one of them? Then simply get in touch. Our minds and hearts are always open.

Are you doing what you think that you are doing merely for yourself or humans, animals and plants, and every living thing altogether? Look at yourself: On a scale from 1 to 10, how non-arrogant, readily approachable, and imaginative are you? Because anywhere below 5 is simply unacceptable. Forget about intelligent, empowering, and therefore brilliant collaboration in this case. Are you there, for everyone? Let's not insist on continuing as foolish as we all too often do, because we really aren't, just acting that way.

Next years' theme is set to be Ubuntu: I Am Because We Are. Ubuntu (meaning humanity in Bantu ) describes a set of closely related African-origin value systems that emphasize the interconnectedness of individuals with their surrounding societal and physical worlds. 'Ubuntu' is sometimes translated as 'I am because we are' (also 'I am because you are'), or 'humanity towards others'. In Xhosa , the latter is used, but often in a more philosophical sense, to mean 'the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity'.

Sign up for attending World Mental Health Forum October 3–10, 2025 on LinkedIn https://lnkd.in/eDV3yRtF and Eventbrite https://lnkd.in/drCnGEyn .

May God – meaning the good and truth and nothing but the truth in all of us – bless and continue guiding us, and yes, sometimes even dancing with us, through this marvelous experience called life, while we are constantly feeding back to source everything we are discovering about ourselves and what, both personally and collectively, makes us uniquely us. All the best and with much love, Harald Walter Azmann and Margot Azmann

World Mental Health Forum . Have a wonderful life. ? We are establishing a global exchange of most up to date information and best practice by presenting mental health thought leaders and changemakers in regular newsletters, live podcasts, and annual conferences around the world. Because mental health and wellbeing are everyone's business. A 100% charitable initiative rather than a self-serving enterprise.

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