Is it me or is it anxiety? I can't tell. I'd like to say I knew the difference, but that wouldn't be true. Anxiety has a way of holding my mind in a trap. It can't get out or even move. It wonders and obsesses over one thought over and over again, a feedback loop, [...]
I want to renew myself like a library book. I'm tired, I'm not done reading myself, and I definitely need more time. But, I also need some care. My pages are worn and...you know what? This analogy isn't working for me. Let's try another one: I want to publish an updated version of myself, volume [...]
When someone asks me how I am, I usually give an honest answer. If I'm not okay, I say something like "having a hard day." But typically I tend to overshare and say something that makes the person laugh, even if it's surprising or seeming inappropriate. "How are you?" "Well, I just got my period, [...]
Remember Mike Tyson's Punch Out for Nintendo? There were different opponents to beat. Each boxer was harder to conquer than the next. There was that King Hippo with the big belly. You punched him right in the stomach and defeated him. When I think about depression, and how it comes out of nowhere, I remember [...]
We all fail. We all stumble, fall on our faces, try hard to do something that explodes in the worst way possible. You might have labeled yourself a "failure" or a "loser." I'm guilty of doing this. Failure can feel intense to me and I adopt it temporarily as part of my identity. It's not that [...]
It takes a while for me to open up; share what's inside of me. I have to feel like I am in safe space, able to be who I am. One of the safest places I can think of is my therapist's office, sitting on her couch. Sometimes it's embarrassing admitting what I'm dealing with, [...]
Nobody goes to the store and orders a depression sandwich because nobody wants to be depressed. So why would you spend your time standing in line waiting to order something that makes you feel bad? You wouldn't, however, sometimes you don't even realize that you've had a depression sandwich. Did somebody force feed it to [...]
In the fourth grade and my elementary school they offer a program where kids could become conflict managers. I wanted to be a part of this. The goal was to be a peer mediator on the playground. We learned about using “I Messages” to communicate our feelings. For example “I feel angry when you don’t listen [...]
