The Awesomeness of Strangers

I went on and on about my love for Twitter last week and to be honest, the reasoning was pretty simplistic.  Basically I love reading funny things, is what it boils down to.  However, this weekend, I got to see the real power behind it.  And honestly?  It's awesome! Sometimes, complete strangers can be even more amazing than you give them credit for.  

So, what happened you might be asking?  Somewhere around Friday evening, this was posted: 

Jared Padalecki is one of the stars of Supernatural and he was supposed to be attending a convention in Rome all weekend, after attending one in England the previous weekend.  As fans who had spent a great deal of money to see him at that particular convention, you may expect a bit of annoyance or outrage.  You'd expect those fans to be angry and demand their money back.  

And since you're not heartless, you may be a bit worried about what was going on in his life. You wouldn't actually expect what did happen.  And that's the remarkable part.  

To understand why his update was so disconcerting, you'd have to know a bit about him. He recently shared with the press and fans, his own struggle with depression.  He wasn't asking for pity, he was using that as a stepping stone to start a huge movement "#AlwaysKeepFighting." Using that slogan and his (and Jensen Ackles') notoriety, they were able to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for depression and suicide prevention charities.  He's used it has his personal motto and has been collecting stories from fans about how they've always kept fighting and how the show and the cast have helped them in times of need (which is in it of itself, pretty amazing).  He's also one of the kindest human beings on the planet (based on accounts from pretty much everyone he's ever met.) 

That brings us to Saturday.  By Saturday afternoon, the entire cast of Supernatural (pretty much anyone who has ever been or who is currently on the show) had sent messages of care and concern via Twitter (even other actors from other shows that had heard about him being down).  They sent their love, and understanding in the most heartfelt ways.  They were even sure to address it at the convention and share how much he meant to them and how much the fan's caring about him meant to them.

           

But then, so did, basically the entire fandom. 

Pretty much, every one of his fans shared messages of care and concern.  They sent photos to him to cheer him up.  They sent notes saying how much he had helped them.  They sent stress relievers that have helped them in the past.  They sent videos of love and understanding.  They created projects on line to send him care packages and cards.  And most amazing of all, not one message I saw was scolding him for leaving the convention goers high and dry.  Not one person complained that "exhaustion" wasn't a good excuse. Everything I read was all love and all amazing!  And everything was tagged with his personal mantra - #AlwaysKeepFighting.

If you don't believe me, check out the #AlwaysKeepFighting hashtag on Twitter.  There are updates being added by the second.

I'm not sure if he's seen it all yet, but I'd like to think he has and these messages of hope and care, from complete strangers will help him deal with whatever it is he's dealing with. Because he deserves all the love he's receiving and I think he'll be ok. He's got a heck of a support system behind him. 

In a world, where you hear an awful lot about cyber bullying attacks, how can you not resist a story on a cyber love attack? : )