Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Psyche.
Today, You Will Forget that There Is a Tomorrow
They say that it’s better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all. They say the good ones always leave us too soon, and that sometimes, if you love them, you must let them go. These are things that I have heard about my aunt since the day she died. These are things that I don’t know I would have told myself.
By Cordell Green8 years ago in Psyche
"Hey, It's Fine."
I was fourteen. I just started my first year of high school. I had left so much past trauma behind, but it seems trouble follows me. On the first day of school there was a fight. I saw him standing there being yelled at and pushed but not giving in to the temptation of fighting back. I saw him fall to the ground and be kicked over and over again. I saw his friends standing in shock and I noticed my feet walking over. I started yelling "stop" at the boy I once knew who was doing the kicking. He and I have a history, and that's a whole deal on its own. He noticed me and backed off laughing as a car pulled up and the driver yelled at the boy I was helping off the ground to get in. I let him lean on me and helped him to the car, and I ended up getting in. We went to his house and to his room and to his bed where he told me what had happened. He was stressed and I was overwhelmed. He kissed me, he grabbed my thigh as high as I would let him and breathed into my ear how I had saved him. I let him keep going because I wasn't thinking. It escalated and I didn't want it to but soon enough he was talking off my pants with one hand around my throat and telling me how thankful he was that I was there today. I didn't know him, he didn't know me. He didn't care. I grabbed his sheets and he grabbed me. Once it was over he told me I should leave. I left. During the next couple days I discovered more about him. The first thing I discovered was that he had a girlfriend at the time. He got into trouble and I knew he wasn't going to be good for me. Every once in a while for the next couple weeks he would walk me home and end up staying in my basement and telling me all about my body and my lips and my hips, things I didn't need or want to hear. If I would protest he would tell me, "hey, it's fine, don't worry," and that was that. He broke up with his girlfriend and soon enough she messaged me calling me a dirty whore and a slut and then the whole class of grade nine girls hated me. School was just dirty looks and homework, after school was him, but hey, it was fine.
By Pearl McCarthy8 years ago in Psyche
Is Depression a Real Illness?
After tackling the beast called anxiety, I figured it's time to touch on yet another topic that I personally deal with and am highly fascinated by. (Yes, the brain is fascinating and even though I curse mine I am genuinely intrigued by its functioning—or lack thereof—ha.)
By Annalise Mishler8 years ago in Psyche
10 Declarations to Make to Yourself in the Mirror
Why these statements are completely true and valid. You are beautiful. You really and truly are a wonderfully beautiful creation, and not just because of your body. No, you are gorgeous from the inside-out, because your beauty is rooted in much more than your skin-deep appeal. Your tenacity and your fortitude, your love and your compassion, your spirit and your very soul: these are the defining characteristics that make you beautiful. It is the beauty of those internal strengths that radiates outward and makes you absolutely glow with alluring grace; it is these inner charms that draw others to you.
By Hannah Easop8 years ago in Psyche
Antifragility: A Student's Perspective
So do you know what Hydra is? No, not the glorified super villains that suck at getting the job done against one super-soldier with an almost limitless number of resources. The mythical creature, the Hydra, is supposed to be an awesome beast that Hercules faces in order to complete his trials and ascend to God-like status. So this creature is the kind of thing that Nicholas Nassim Taleb would consider an antifragile being. What is antifragile you ask? Well, being antifragile comes in degrees, and according to Taleb there are three distinct levels that lead up to this state of ultra-actualization: Fragility, Robustness, and Antifragility.
By Andy Barrales8 years ago in Psyche
Living with Anxiety
A few weeks ago, I posted a video about anxiety on my Facebook timeline, with a little note explaining why and what the differences were between me and the guy in the video. Almost immediately afterwards a now ex-friend of mine responded with the words "Irrelevant. You thrive on this melodrama. Utter poo." Now, I don't for a minute think that everyone thinks or feels this way — that was a very extreme response. But what I have noticed is that whilst depression as a mental health condition is gradually gaining more public awareness, although a lot of prejudice and ignorance still exists; public knowledge about anxiety as a mental health condition is lagging behind.
By Sarah Jane8 years ago in Psyche
Who is Self?
The self, when approaching it from a philosophical view, is scary — the possibility that lies within how many replicas of me; what is the me like in those situations? Those questions come later. Is the self nonexistent without a physical representation? 100 percent physicality is mainly important, but why? Something, filled with a life force, needs to be here on earth to take on responsibility for the actions and thoughts of the person. No matter which body it ends up in, the self is practically not real without some form of physical life. This is sad because this form of self defines how we view the world. I think that it's sad that the way we view the world is dependent upon the body we were given. As we see this form affects gender and how we determine what we do with it. The self is not at all accommodating. To find yourself, you must step outside of the skin and bones you were dealt and reach a state of omnipresence that overpowers all outward focus of what you see in the mirror and reaffirms it into the being you choose to be, on your own, without help. This is the state of self-acceptance. So, to say the most, the self is ever-changing, but why? Well, we are always finding new ideas, new prophecies, and new ways of life. No one ever stays the same once in their life. We all differ from what we can do. The path we choose to take may be different than the one we would have chosen the day before or even the minute before we made that final decision. We all constantly change to meet how we feel in the present moment.
By Kenya Carpenter8 years ago in Psyche
Medz Part 2
I inhale, this time there is a sweetness on my breath that I haven't tasted in a long time. The light switch is triggered and everything I see and feel is incredibly pleasurable. My skin which once was a cold, rough wasteland is now a soft warm inviting oasis. My mind and body so in tune with my spirit and I finally feel complete. There is nothing I can not do there is no one I can't have. Everything I once thought impossible to obtain is now in the palm of my hand; there is no one who can stop me from reaching my pinnacle. The pure bliss and power I have are enough to make me invincible.
By Nikita grant8 years ago in Psyche
