Largest Heart.org
Bucky Fuller Series 1 of 3 Parts
The Epiphany
Introduction
Suicide is an option.
It is a disturbing fact that one in every four students think about killing themselves at some or other stage during their college or university term.
A research study and its findings
A study in 2018 surveyed more than 65, 000 students and an enormous 20% of them either said that they have had suicidal thoughts- or tried committing suicide during the previous year.
These students believe that they have stressors so traumatic that it is difficult to overcome. They reported academic pressures, family problems, intimate relationships, financial problems, sleep difficulties, career issues, appearance- and personal health problems as some of the main stressors.
Researchers found that the rate of students suffering from depression or anxiety is much higher now than it was ten years ago. Drugs and alcohol can make matters worse.
Have you ever thought about suicide?
We know now that it is not uncommon.
9% of the students surveyed in the study mentioned above have already tried to commit suicide once. That is almost 6 000 students. Are you perhaps one of them?
Please read here
Today we start a short series of three blogs here at Largest Heart. It is part of our mission to inform, but also to spread love and hope. We want to bring you some hope through the story of Bucky Fuller.
Bucky Fuller had reasons to be depressed.
His daughter died
Her name was Alexandra, and she died: just before her fourth birthday in 1922. She had complications from spinal meningitis and polio.
Bucky was left with extreme anxiety because he suspected that some of the symptoms of her illness could be traced back to their not-ideal living conditions.
He lost his job
He went on to design compressed bricks that will build lighter, but still sturdy buildings. Bucky Fuller was president of his own company, Stockade, but in 1926 he failed to make a profit.
The company was sold and he was fired as president. There was no savings and a brand new baby at home.
Suicide was an option.
Life insurance
Fuller began drinking heavily. During the autumn of 1927, he concluded that suicide was the only option. His family could gain from his life insurance benefit.
The Epiphany
He was 32 and standing on a bridge in Michigan.
Then, something happened that gave purpose to his life. Just as he was thinking to jump, a voice spoke to him.
The voice said:
"You do not belong to you. You don't have the right to take your own life. You belong to the Universe. You are significant, and you have a role to fulfill. You have to use your experiences and intellect to serve others."
It changed Bucky Fuller's life.
He listened
Fuller resolved that he could not commit suicide. Instead, he will spend his life to see how one can do more with less. He wanted to help humankind to have more, and he wanted to contribute to humanity.
Fast forward
Richard Buckminster Fuller went on to lecture to thousands of audiences. He met Indira Gandhi and Pierre Trudeau. He spoke at IBM and DuPont and more than 500 educational institutes. He is the author of 28 books.
On the cover of Time magazine
Over 90,000 published works cite Fuller and what he had done with his life. He was on the cover of the Time magazine in 1964.
Conclusion
The voice Bucky Fuller heard came from God.
There was more to be done. His life was precious.
In our next blog, we will tell you what Bucky Fuller did for the rest of his life. All of what he accomplished could have been lost, had he not listened to the Voice on the bridge.
Your life is precious, too.
You too have something to give. Don’t give up.
At Largest Heart, we are committed to helping non-profit organizations associated with suicide to keep up the excellent work. Help us by donating today. There could be more Bucky Fullers out there, ready to jump. Together, we can prevent this.
Resources
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/1-in-5-college-students-so-stressed-they-consider-suicide/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckminster_Fuller#Depression_and_epiphany
https://exhibits.stanford.edu/bucky/feature/r-buckminster-fuller-timeline
