{"id":136535,"date":"2017-05-10T06:30:31","date_gmt":"2017-05-10T06:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wildideas.wpengine.com\/?p=717"},"modified":"2020-03-18T13:15:38","modified_gmt":"2020-03-18T20:15:38","slug":"mark-lukach-writing-about-a-taboo-topic-to-help-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/podcasts\/wild-ideas-worth-living\/mark-lukach-writing-about-a-taboo-topic-to-help-others","title":{"rendered":"Mark Lukach – Writing About a Taboo Topic to Help Others"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mark\u2019s Wild Idea: To share his family\u2019s story of mental illness and help others. To also choose commitment and love over fear.<\/p>\n

Mark Lukach is a father, husband, teacher, surfer, bodysurfer, and the author of the new book, My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward<\/i>, published by Harper Collins and on shelves this month. Six years ago, Mark submitted an essay about his wife\u2019s struggle with mental illness and its effect on their marriage that was immediately accepted and published in The New York Times<\/i>\u2019 famous Modern Love <\/i>column. The story quickly led to a book deal, and to many reaching out thanking him for sharing about such a difficult topic.<\/p>\n

In addition to being an awesome writer, Mark is a teacher and the Dean of a high school in northern California. He loves trail running, body surfing and surfing, especially in Ocean Beach. His message about sacrifice, commitment and being vulnerable is so important to living wildly, and also inspiring.<\/p>\n

Listen to this Episode if:<\/h2>\n
    \n
  • You have or know someone with a mental illness.<\/li>\n
  • You are or want to be a writer.<\/li>\n
  • You love teaching high school students.<\/li>\n
  • You have a story you want to tell, but are afraid to tell it.<\/li>\n
  • You are a runner who loves hitting the trails.<\/li>\n
  • You love surfing or bodysurfing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n
      \n
    • 3:40 – The inspiration behind Mark\u2019s new book.<\/li>\n
    • 6:30 –\u00a0 Who is affected by mental illness.<\/li>\n
    • 8:15 – What gave Mark the courage to write this book.<\/li>\n
    • 14:15 – Where the U.S. falls in treatment of mental health.<\/li>\n
    • 17:30 – How to help people with mental illness or who are close to someone with mental illness.<\/li>\n
    • 21:50 – The values of commitment, sacrifice, and patience.<\/li>\n
    • 25:30 – Balancing teaching, family and writing.<\/li>\n
    • 27:00 – Mark\u2019s advice for his high school students.<\/li>\n
    • 29:05 – How Mark fits surfing and running into his life.<\/li>\n
    • 33:00 – What Mark\u2019s wife thinks of his book.<\/li>\n
    • 34:20 – Who\u2019s going to play Mark in the movie?<\/li>\n
    • 38:50 – How Mark got his piece into the Modern Love column.<\/li>\n
    • 41:20 – The difference between a good essay and a good book.<\/li>\n
    • 46:15 – How surfing in Ocean Beach made this journey happen.<\/li>\n
    • 49:30 – Sharing a story that\u2019s hard.<\/li>\n
    • 55:00 – We\u2019re all in this together.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      \t\t\t\tMark\u2019s Wild Idea: To share his family\u2019s story of mental illness. To help others who have or know someone with mental illness. To share stories that will help the world.\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":136606,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1992,1993,1727],"tags":[],"internal-tag":[],"class_list":["post-136535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-season-1","category-podcast","category-wild-ideas-worth-living"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/podcasts\/wild-ideas-worth-living\/mark-lukach-writing-about-a-taboo-topic-to-help-others","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Mark Lukach – Writing About a Taboo Topic to Help Others","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/podcasts\/wild-ideas-worth-living\/mark-lukach-writing-about-a-taboo-topic-to-help-others","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/podcasts\/wild-ideas-worth-living\/mark-lukach-writing-about-a-taboo-topic-to-help-others"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/02\/wiwlheader.jpg?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/02\/wiwlheader.jpg?fit=2000%2C1000"},"articleSection":"2017 Shows","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chelsea Davis"}],"creator":["Chelsea Davis"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2017-05-10T06:30:31Z","datePublished":"2017-05-10T06:30:31Z","dateModified":"2020-03-18T20:15:38Z"},"rendered":"