Rapper Scott Mescudi, aka "Kid Cudi" has checked himself into rehab for depression. We know this because last night, he posted a raw, emotional letter to has fans about the fact that he is "not at peace" and that he has made a decision to care about his life by seeking help. Within hours, his words of vulnerability inspired more words across the internet, myself included. Kid Cudi, your commitment to staying alive means more to your fans than your commitment to making good music.

If you have listened to his music, you would immediately feel the intensity of his melancholic lyrics and sounds. He has surely already helped millions feel little less alone in their own suffering. And now, he tells us, it is time that he pursue his own happiness.

What Scott wrote to his fans has the same apologetic tone and language as a suicide letter, yet the difference is that he is still alive. He will be around to witness the effects of his actions on himself, and on others. While we don't know what will happen to him, we are grateful that he has given himself the chance to find out.

Suicidal feelings are important because they create a turning point in our lives. They can push you to make the difficult changes needed in order to keep going on as "you." When you are seeking an escape, what you actually want is to exist in negative space, the space outside of the bounds of social definitions that shape your reality. You want freedom from that reality. But if you're dead, there will be no negative space because there is no existence left to create it. Thus the only way you can escape reality, is to find a way to live within it.