How Dork Meetups Began
I (Ethan’s my name) started Dork Dancing with the singular mission to overcome challenges in mental health. In Da Nang, Dork Dancing was doing that quite well. In less than 6 weeks, we had encouraged about 120 dorks to dance with us on the beach for a total of 405 times. We hosted events for approximately 50 hours. There was no question that we were dancing well while building community.
After our events, we shared conversation over smoothies or dinner, to get to know one another better. Dork Dancing has proven to be a great way to meet new people and make friends in a fun yet vulnerable way.
We still faced a problem, though. We were advocating openly for mental health, and still found it difficult to talk about. From time to time, in smaller social settings, we connected over the tougher topics. Things like depression, anxiety, and loneliness. But these weren’t necessarily fun or easy to consistently talk about. Weekend plans and casual conversations were more comfortable. It’s easier to open up to friends than strangers, and making friends out of strangers takes time and trust.
Dork Dancing is great to lighten the load while advocating for a greater cause that scientifically combats mental illness. But…how can we take things even a step further? How can we facilitate conversation around mental health in a more intentional and purposeful way?
That’s where Dork Meetups comes in. That’s where Mily comes in.
I first met Mily back on July 12th, 2020, nearly a month after starting Dork Dancing. Mily and I connected easily, since she too shared a similar story as mine. Both diagnosed as bipolar, both with two episodes of mania, both leading to psychiatric hospitalizations.
Personally, this was really cool. I have never met someone who I have shared a parallel story of mental illness, maybe because I have never really found acceptable social contexts to find others who could connect & relate to me in this way. Dork Dancing introduced me to someone who shared not only a relatable story, but a relatable passion too.
I spoke with Mily about some of the challenges I was facing with Dork Dancing. I wanted to spark more conversation around mental health for dork dancers, and was looking for others who might want to lead a space for that conversation to occur.
Mily lit up. It was like she was bound with kindling and this idea sparked her fire. She told me she had been thinking about doing something like this for years. She had loads of exercises that she had found helpful in her personal journey and was excited to share those with others so they can grow from pain to purpose too.
Dorks could really benefit from meeting up, so we can find an intentional, purposeful space to reflect, share, and grow together around mental health challenges. It takes work but that doesn’t need to happen alone. You can share the journey with other people who can relate to similar discomforts and fears, while sharing tips and ideas to help one another.
I, personally, struggle to understand why mental health solutions have largely been privatized & profited to pills and therapy with trained professionals. While those things are proven to be helpful, I find a lot of excitement in the power of what’s free: community, listening & empathy, and fundamentally, love. With a spirit of caring combined with an hour of social accountability each week, imagine how we can support one another, as neighbors.
Over the course of a month, Mily has been working diligently on her booklet, with the help of a new collaborator Kyana (who I will introduce later!). She has made this resource free & open to dorks who want to meet up. Mily, like me, believes that access to mental health, even mental wealth, is a human right, something that should not be exclusive to those with deeper pockets.
While not doctors or therapists, we are still people who care and can help because we have been there. We get it. Life is tough and it’s not easy to go at it alone. From I to we, we move from illness to wellness. That’s why dorks meet up.