This video was created in recognition of International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day (November 22, 2025). We've invited Sarah Gaer, MA, to provide her professional and personal insight. Ms. Gaer is an experienced mental health professional with a focus in suicide prevention. She has published books and spoke on suicide + related topics of mental health on TEDx, WGBY-TV, New England Public Media, as well as additional in-person conferences. We encourage you to check out her website at (www.sarahgaer.com) for more! Thank you all who sent in questions! Our full video answering them is here: https://youtu.be/oUhDZqQQoDo LinkedIn Post: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7398511434072231936

Hi everyone, Quest4Clarity update! We're making a video highlighting suicide awareness and prevention with Ms. Sarah Gaer. Ms. Gaer's work in suicide prevention has been recognized by SAMHSA and the Good Men Project; she is a nationally recognized speaker, author, and mental health professional with over 25 years in the field. In recognition of International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day, we invited her to hear her insights, as she is also a survivor of loss herself, having lost 3 friends by the age of 20. To promote a more comfortable environment, we are not hosting this as a live webinar; if you have any questions that you would like us to ask Ms. Gaer, please comment them here or PM me!

i think it's an interesting phenomenon, where we want to be lazy but also can't stand it. i think it's because we feel like we have to find some purpose or meaning in life, or we'll basically go insane, and when you can't find it within yourself, you cling onto any opportunity given by others to have some role in society. honestly, i'm guilty of this myself. it's not bad, per se, but relying on others to find your purpose makes it harder to find it on your own. it's not impossible. just a lot more difficult to get into the mindset that puts you first.

Kudos to anyone who hosts webinars with guest speakers because this is actually so hard combined with my classes 🫠 If you're able to come and watch, I would really appreciate it! But if you can't, no worries! Registration link is here: https://forms.gle/apAM3ds2drakJARG6

Song of the post: https://open.spotify.com/track/0GiMNDMpPq0o43oPP5Xhuc?si=ea39de35a4434a2b Substack post: https://open.substack.com/pub/rudaiba/p/her-void?r=47zbbv&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true She presses the final key, holds the silence like it's something fragile. For a moment, she pretends the applause that never comes is waiting just beyond the library walls. But it never does. It’s always just the soft creak of her own breath in an empty corner of the world. She closes the piano lid like it’s a coffin. She opens her eyes. Still here. Still her. She smiles on her way out, nodding at the librarian with all the grace they expect from her. "She’s so kind." "She’s so elegant." "She’s everything I wish I was." Their voices float behind her like perfume—heavy, sickly, not meant for her to inhale. She walks and her shoes make no sound. Her laugh makes no echo. She is a performance piece. A perfect script recited on loop. Inside? Nothing. Not pain, not joy. Just static. Just… blank. A hollow statue carved by others, polished by expectations, placed gently on a pedestal no one dares question. Even she doesn’t question it anymore—not really. She plays, she smiles, she moves like a painting on display. Her words about “passion” taste like chalk. But inside? There's nothing. She studies because it’s all she was told she was good for. She plays because the silence afterward reminds her she’s still alone. She wins because otherwise… she might hear the emptiness louder. She looks at her own reflection in the polished piano lid, if she’s even real. And with a bitter smirk only she can see, she whispers— “I am… a true void.”