In honor of World Mental Health Day, actress and writer Heather Matarazzo, most famously known for her role as Lily Matzkevich in “The Princess Diaries,” arrived at Sonoma State University to share her insight about mental health and the simplistic importance of allowing yourself to be seen and the active involvement of seeing others.

Just last August, Matarazzo received the Human Rights Campaign Visibility Award for her unapologetic openness and advocacy for life and love. Because of her inspiring battle with mental health, Associated Students Productions at Sonoma State asked Matarazzo to share her story and give some advice for people struggling with their mental health. 

“We felt Heather had a lot of life experience to offer and she was a big name so students could relate to her but also look up to her,” said ASP member Sammi Glatt about booking the actress on behalf of World Mental Health Day.

Matarazzo’s interactive lecture took place last Wednesday in Ballroom A located on the second floor of the Student Center, and despite the venues large space, she managed to make the atmosphere feel very intimate and safe. 

Matarazzo was brave enough to share her story with the students of Sonoma State – a story that involved a suicide attempt at age nine, cutting at age eleven, rape, depression and sexual assault. 

Given the cards she was dealt, she struggled to repair her mental health for years. However, what saved her life was a trip to Costa Rica and a spiritual ceremony involving the hallucinogenic plant-based drug, ayahuasca. The medicine made her feel like she was actually going to die in a way that was out of her control, and she didn’t like that.

“There’s this illusion of safety… and it’s great! Safety is great. But for me, that illusion of safety was causing me to slowly die. I learned to befriend death. I didn’t realize how much I had taken my life for granted in the sense of, I didn’t really know what it was to be alive and to live,” Matarazzo said.

She now strives to better others and conceptualize the idea of self worth. She also emphasizes the importance of love and how everyone is worthy of being seen. Matarazzo explained this concept by making direct eye contact with multiple members of the audience for extended periods of time. 

Fourth year Samantha Perez found this to be a very meaningful message in Matarazzo’s interactive lecture. “It’s important to ‘see’ people because you never really know what’s going on in their life. I feel like Heather emphasizing the whole ‘being seen’ thing was her way of saying that a small action could easily help someone.”

Second year Daniel Manjarrez was also moved by this specific aspect of Matarazzo’s lecture. “Seeing her take the time to hold eye contact with people and recognize their presence seemed so simple, but at the same time, it was really powerful in a way that I didn’t expect.” 

Matarazzo passionately reassured the audience that everyone was worthy of being seen, held and loved. She stated that she would stay and recognize the presence of every single person in the lecture hall if needed.

She finalized her lecture by stating, “none of us know what happens after we die. None of us know what tomorrow is gonna bring or even the next moment! But you’re worthy of every single moment and it’s not my job to convince you of that, but sometimes a little eye contact goes a long way.”