About

It’s All Sad™ is my firsthand account of living with depression as an entrepreneur and millennial in the digital era.

I can’t remember the first time I felt depressed and it wasn’t something we talked about in my family. It was just too taboo. I think most families are like this. It was impossible that a child that excelled in every area of life could be such an awful thing.

There was a time in my youth when I believed my depression imprisoned me. I now know it frees me. All of the hardships I’ve endured in my life, the ugliness, has allowed me to see true beauty through contrast. Most people live within the murky greys and this is how they come to see the world.

To me, this kind of middle life is the saddest thing imaginable, because what matters most in a person exists on the extremes, their capacity for ugliness on one end and their capacity for beauty on the other. I’ve always been aware of my own dichotomies. It’s there where I’ve come to find myself.

Over the last decade, I’ve been too poor to eat and dined with royalty. I’ve been unemployed and worked for Janet Jackson. I’ve dropped out of university and taught myself to code. I’ve failed in business and succeeded. I’ve been forgotten and famous. I’ve been heartbroken and found my soulmate. It’s been ugly and beautiful.

Today I’m happily married and based in Toronto. I also own Dopesite Co. and Artful Record®.

It’s All Sad,

Stephen Shaw