Judd will deliver the Fall Convocation address on Friday, September 30, and offers her thoughts on fighting mental health and being an advocate for the underrepresented before her talk.
Actress and activist Ashley Judd deliver a fall convocation speech as part of the 2022-23 Elon University Speaker Series on Friday, September 30 at 3:30 pm at the Schar Center.
Judd has starred in many feature films, including “Where the Heart Is,” “Simon Birch,” and “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood,” and was also named to TIME’s 2017 “Person of the Year” list as one of the silence breakers and change makers who helped change the culture and conversation around sexual harassment and abuse.
The college speaker series is themed “Living Well in a Changing World,” and Judd’s remarks will focus on “Mental Health: What We Don’t Transform in Ourselves, We Will Transfer to Others.”
Prior to his visit, Judd was reached out to by the Elon University News Office for his views on a variety of topics.
His talk is entitled “Mental health: what we do not transform in ourselves, we will transfer to others.” What can you share about what she will discuss during her visit with Elon?
I hope to share how I experience health and wellness in concentric circles. First, I need to be connected to a power greater than myself, however I understand and define that power. Next, I need to be connected with myself. Finally, I need to be connected with others. The journey is from pain to healing to help, in that order. Very often we mix it.
What do you hope people take away from your talk at Elon?
That self-care is not selfishness, it is self-esteem. It’s okay to take care of ourselves because we can’t pass on what we don’t have. We need to learn to give to others and to society from our abundance, not from depletion and depletion. And someone else’s illness or dysfunction: the three C’s – We didn’t cause it’s. we can notcheck it’s. We can not cure it’s. However, we can contribute by focusing on ourselves and changing our own attitudes.
What advice do you have for students who are struggling with mental health issues? How can they ask for help and how can those around them support them?
It’s okay to fight. I have been there too. Seeking help is actually an indication of wellness and strength, a spark of resilience. review the NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) website and explore a 12-step program for support. learn about pain.
For those who are supporting someone, the suggestions are the same: find your own support so you know how to support rather than enable.
You are an outspoken advocate who is passionate about a number of issues. What does it mean to you to use your platform to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves on issues of mental illness, poverty, gender inequality, and social issues? Justice?
It means so much to my soul to be connected with my peers, to be entrusted with sacred stories and truths, and to share them across communities. My sense of belonging and purpose fill my cup.
How has your work in the entertainment industry prepared you to be a stronger advocate for others?
Seeing my female peers make much less money than men, being underrepresented on screen, having less dialogue or that dialogue being generally about men and relationships, hearing crude and objectifying male dialogue about women, and seeing women so marginalized and rare in work teams. set, and the difference in power between men and women in studios and agencies taught me that courage is needed everywhere.
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