July 20, 2017
by: Joel Muise - C0-Founder & CEO of TranquilityOnline.co
Watch the “THE TRANQUILITY VLOG (Trailer)”
Where do I start???
Writing the “The Story of my Life” post was not in any way, shape, or form a part of any kind of plan… but it changed my life!
I had always been a huge supporter of “Bell Let’s Talk” and ending the stigmatization that surrounds mental health.
During the winter of 2016, I had posted something short on my Facebook account for Bell Let’s Talk Day that week, but a friend asked me if I would expand. I sat down and said…
“Sure”
I wrote a massive text message… it was the entire story. It is actually the skeleton of what became: “The Story of my Life”. (Click here to read)

The response I received from him was really supportive… and then he shared some similar thoughts, feelings, and insecurities. This was a person that I would have never imagined would have shared some of those experiences. It made me think… maybe I’m not the only one who experienced these things…. Maybe it’s not even a small minority that feels these things… maybe… MAYBE…. it’s the majority!?
Now, I had always been somewhat open about my struggles, but I had never shared the entire story…
By this point though, I was sick (literally) and tired (literally) of carrying the burden of some of the “secrets” that I carried around with me.
So, I guess I thought to myself. If I lay it all out there… if I share this with the world… they may judge me… but at least I will be free from that burden. The burden of wearing my mask.
“Maybe someone will actually read this and it may motivate them to seek help?
Maybe this will resonate with someone? “
All I knew is that I wanted to try and be part of the solution, not the problem, when it came to stigmatization surrounding mental health.
The Response
The response was extremely unexpected. Analytics for the site told me that almost 4,000 people visited the post within 48 hours. The post got shared 63 times on Facebook. In other words… people that I never met before were reading and sharing my story. I didn’t have a blog site before I posted that story. In fact, I actually had to create one just to post the story; it would have been far too lengthy to be a standalone Facebook post.
Having a lot of people read the post was great. But, the more powerful part was how many people I knew, and didn’t know, reached out to me to share their stories.
That was amazing, but it was also quite distressing… I was amazed (and distressed) at how many people I knew were struggling; some more seriously than others.
One of the people who reached out to me was actually Dr. Wendy Nickerson. She asked me if I wanted to be part of the solution to the problem I was writing about. I wasn’t really sure if I did, but she was offering me a “scholarship” to take her “Certified Integrative Health Coaching” course. I thought to myself, at the very least, I would learn a bunch of things that I may be able to use in my own life to help me with my journey.
I left my job
So…
Although I had done a lot of work with my psychologist and had come to terms that my physical symptoms were somatic (i.e. related to my mental health not a physical disease or ailment)… the chronic pain, fatigue, and most importantly the brain fog was not getting much better and it was seriously limiting my ability to complete my tasks at work.
I was doing the bare minimum at work. To be honest, at that point, it was unfair for my employer to be paying me.
But more importantly, I knew if I wanted to get better, I had to take some time off. So, with consultation from my doctors, we decided it would be best if I took a break from work.
Once I left, it became abundantly clear to me that work was not making me happy. It was not fulfilling my needs, and so I eventually decided I would not be returning to the investment industry. You’re about to find out… I’m FAR too creative to be an investment analyst! (i.e. Did you watch the “THE TRANQUILITY VLOG (Trailer)” above yet?)
Things got silent
The thing about leaving your job for medical reasons, especially if they are mental health related is that… “The Powers That Be” are not overly enthusiastic with helping you and providing you with disability benefits.
Sometimes… things get complicated.
Sometimes… lawyers get involved.
Sometimes… you are sworn to secrecy.
But mostly… it hinders your recovery and adds to the stigma…
I’ve been wanting to share so much with you!!!
You have no idea how badly I wanted to share what I’ve been working on…
It’s far too much to share in this single post. And writing about it would probably suffice, but… I’ve got much GRANDER plans than that…
I want to bring you on an ADVENTURE.
I want you to join me on my JOURNEY.
I want us to LAUGH and CRY together.
I want us to change the world!
ARE YOU READY!!!???
A man and his camera…
I’ve been working on a solution. A solution to “The Problem”… What’s The Problem?
That’s right.
At least, one in five people struggle with mental illness.
But getting help is extremely difficult.
- It often takes over 6-months to get an appointment within the system with a mental health professional in our Canadian cities.
- The problem is often worse in rural communities
- Private therapy is more timely, but is very expensive
- Most insurance policies don’t cover more than three sessions with a therapist
- General Practitioners (i.e. Family Doctors) have little training in mental health and are often ill-equipped to help and therefore are forced to treat their patients’ symptoms by prescribing (often times) unnecessary medications…
This is a $50 billion problem in Canada and is exponentially larger in the U.S…
And so…
I’ve been documenting this journey for you. The journey of me… creating a technology start-up that’s mission is to bring mental health help to the masses.
We’re going to start with anxiety, and then we’re going to expand into other areas such as depression.
We’re going to bring the gold standard form of therapy to whoever may need it in a way that is:
- Affordable
- Timely
- Stigma-Free
- Accessible and,
- Personal
It’s called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, and we’ll get into the “HOW” and “WHY” in future communications…
Until then…
Let’s begin…
Just hit that “PLAY” button to watch Episode One of “THE TRANQUILITY VLOG”…
Make sure to subscribe to follow our journey!
Joel.