To Write Love on Her Arms Crowdsources Stories

To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA) encouraged supporters to share fears and dreams on Tumblr as part of a campaign to reach people with mental health issues.

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The statistics paint a bleak picture: 14 to 24 percent of young Americans have intentionally self-injured at least once. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 15 and 24. To Write Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA) wanted to reach out to people struggling with these issues and remind them that their unique voices are important to the world.

TWLOHA used Tumblr to share its “Fears vs. Dreams” campaign, which encouraged people to write down answers to the questions: “What’s your biggest fear?” and “What’s your greatest dream?” Written responses were photographed, and those photographs submitted to Tumblr through a link on TWLOHA’s site.

By asking people to articulate their fears and dreams, TWLOHA encouraged them to tell their own stories. “It allows you to identify the conflicts of your tale, but cast a hopeful vision for its conclusion,” wrote Ashlyn Alyce Yo on the TWLOHA blog.

Most of the campaign’s Tumblr posts received dozens—if not hundreds—of reblogs, allowing posts to reach a larger audience. The campaign was also emulated by groups such as Viking Union Gallery, which created the “Fears vs. Dreams” exhibition at Western Washington University. On GOOD magazine’s website, the campaign ranked third to receive the “GOOD Goes Viral” prize.

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