recovery
Your illness does not define you. It's your resolve to recover that does.
Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Top Story - November 2021.
I was in a mall bookstore in Delhi many years ago when the Green Day song Boulevard of Broken Dreams started playing on the radio. I flinched. I felt the familiar flutter in my gut and before I knew it, my heart was racing and my feet felt like lead.
By Natasha Khullar Relph4 years ago in Psyche
How 2020 almost ended for me
In August 2020 I was sitting alone in my workshop, crying and hating myself. Belt in hand, I was going to go down into the basement and hang myself. I knew that because of the outburst I had just gone through, I would be left alone long enough to let it happen. But as I came to the steps of my basement, I began to think about how and who and when I would be found.
By The Esoteric Collective4 years ago in Psyche
Stripped to the Core
My thin, canvas shoes slapped against the freezing pavement, as I ran down an unfamiliar road, during the black of night. I could see my breath in front of my face, and the icy air hurt my chest. Dressed in a t-shirt and shorts, one thought pervaded. If I don’t find the right road during the next five minutes, I’m going to lie down in that ditch and die.
By Anjula Evans4 years ago in Psyche
Dealing With Bad Incidents
We have all been there, haven’t we? There is a social setting and we are behaving apt. Using all our knowledge and wisdom to ensure not a wrong word uttered, not a wrong deed done. Patient. Calm. Composed. Saying the right things. Acting the right way. All good!
By Adesh Acharya4 years ago in Psyche
What is Mental Exhaustion and How to Deal with This Common Problem
Mental exhaustion is, without a doubt, one of the most taxing feelings a person can experience in life. Physical pain stops as soon as irritation causing it. Sore muscles recover with good rest. Mental exhaust, on the other hand, wears down the person in more than one way and stays with us as long as we don’t start fighting back.
By Marie Nieves4 years ago in Psyche
Homecoming
The day that I chose to be brave and truly be who I am, all began with the day that I decided to come home to myself. After 20 years of fighting against myself and wishing to be rid of this life, one of my bravest moments was the day that I decided to go back and get that little girl inside of me who was for far too long forsaken. To go back, to hold her, and to bring her back home. I decided to face myself and all of the skeletons in the closet that came alongside that. I decided to be brave. Despite the anxiety convincing me of my fears and the depression of my faults, I chose to stay and I chose to fight. Initially reading the topic for this piece of writing, I was trying to think back to a specific moment or day that I had chosen to show up just exactly as I am. What I am coming to realize is that there is not one perfect moment that encaptures that moment of authenticity, of honouring myself in her totality and her truth. But rather that moment of undeniable and insurmountable bravery is played out every single day, every single time I am posed with a choice. The choice to surrender to the unkind and deprecating thoughts, or to take the ash and to rise from it. Each time my brain tries to convince me that I am unworthy or incapable, when my ego screams at me about all of the things I cannot do, and especially on the days that my mind is like a battlefield and the casualties are everywhere, where my mind tries to convince me that this world is better off without me in it, these are the real moments that make up for me living out a life as my bravest and truest self. Each time I declare that no matter how many times I get pulled away from the light and find myself lost in places I should not be with people I should not see, and I choose to be courageous and travel back to the depths where the past reminds me of both my heartbreaks and demons too, I choose to live this authenticity out. Each time I walk those same familiar paths to heal, to go find that little girl once left behind by harsh hands and harsher words and I help her to remember who she is. I help her to remember the one inside of her that wants nothing but to love and to be loved. I guide her back to the little one inside that still believes in magic, both in the magic of loving one another, and the magic of loving oneself too, lest we forget the magic of transmuting the pain and aches of this life and choosing to step into the light each time anyway. Many times a day I am given a choice, each day I fight for myself and I choose to step into my truest self and show up just as I am, just exactly as I was meant to be. I intend for my life to be filled day in and day out by these moments, every moment that offers me the chance to be brave and to be true to my heart. I choose to show up just as I am these days no matter how many times I was told I was too much or not enough, I show up just as I am, shoulders down and back, dreams big, smile bigger, honouring me for who I am in my totality. On the days that the dark comes to wreak havoc, I hold myself and remind her that she has a choice, and the bravest thing she could ever do is to choose the light anyway. So my great story of triumph over trial and tribulation begins where my story once began many moons ago and is made up of every single day, every interaction and opportunity to live in my truth, and continuously, time and time again, come home to myself.
By Danyca Patrick-O’Grady4 years ago in Psyche
Recovery Is Possible. Top Story - November 2021.
What is our "Real Self?" I mean, aren't we all putting on a facade for everyone? When we meet people, don't we put our best foot forward? Don't we want to make a great impression when we try to get a job? Authentic Self seems elusive, or so I thought. Oh, that's just "Dime Store Psychology." You see, I had one of those jobs that I had to put on many faces.
By Jeff Johnson4 years ago in Psyche
