*First published during the more ‘severe’ lockdown conditions of the pandemic on the online forum for mental health stories: The OC87 Recovery Diaries. ‘There are no little things. Little things are the hinges of the universe.’ Fanny Fern In my first stay at a mental health institution, in 2013, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder […]
The year is 2007. I am crashing over at the beach cottage of a dear friend, visiting for a short spell, while I whittle away the in-between hours on my honours research and he on his masters. I am a literature student in those days past, and he is a psychology student, and as such […]
Dearest Students My hands tremble as I type this but I fear not. I keep a Bible verse very close to my heart. Be still and know that I am God. It doesn’t get much better than that in life. But here are my final words for you all. Fear not the cruel in this […]
A friend of mine remarked the other day that I seem to see my life thus far as a before and after, a life split in twine, with the person I used to be before my mental breakdown at the not-so-tender age of 29, and the me afterwards. The thing is, certain life events can […]
When I quit my job to become a freelancer a couple of years back, I made a little agreement with myself. Okay, maybe not so little, but all the same an agreement that seems to only get easier with time… A bit on the tricky side in the very beginning! It was an agreement to […]