I’m teaching theatre for a local summer camp, which isn’t something I would have ever imagined I would do. And I think working with kids is giving me more empathy, not that I was lacking in that trait to begin with. But kids are just tiny humans who have big feelings and precious few skills […]
On Gaslighting and Superpowers
I’m not sure why I didn’t make the connection when I was watching Jessica Jones. But I think all superhero stories are an allegory for abuse. Something really fucked up and bad happened to you. Something that should have killed you. Something that would have killed anyone else. Only it didn’t. Instead, it gave you […]
The Path to Compassion
Like I said, I recently read Pema Chodron’s book When Things Fall Apart. Thinking about the book more yesterday, I realized that maybe I had misunderstood what she was saying. The book talks about feeling forgiveness and compassion when bad things happen to us, and sitting with the complexity of the situation instead of retreating […]
Sitting with Grief
I realize I’ve been seeing this process of grief as something to get through. In the wake of so many large changes and upsets in the past few months, I was beyond ready for things to settle. For things to feel okay. I wanted the grief to go away. I thought if I could sit […]
When Things Fall Apart
I’ve been reading Pema Chodron’s book When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times. I’m both glad to be reading it and simultaneously quite uncomfortable and not sure I am able to understand and internalise everything she is saying. I’ve been going through a lot of big changes in the past year. Starting a […]
Update
It’s recently come to my attention that someone who is emotionally abusive towards me is using the posts I make on my website to gain information about my life. I am still dedicated to the honesty and authenticity I’ve been trying to build here. Based on this new information, however, I need to take some […]
What’s a Crisis?
Possibly one of the most frustrating things about mental illness is never being able to trust your perceptions and reactions to stimulus. Never knowing if a reaction is due to your mental illness or an appropriate response to stress. There will always be this little voice asking whether or not someone “normal” would be reacting […]
Change as Opportunity
Since I’m in the situation I’m in, I’m trying to find ways to see it as an opportunity for growth rather than a source of stress. I hadn’t realized the extent to which I had set up my life to be convenient and accommodate my depression and anxiety triggers until things shifted. Since I’m self-employed, […]
Hello, 2016!
Wow, what a week! I have no idea where to even begin. Still not sure how open to be about the details on a public forum. Needless to say, a stressful, unfair, and emotionally/psychologically taxing situation exploded just after the New Year, necessitating a lot of rapid and even more stressful changes that should have […]
New Year, New Uncertainty
As 2015 draws to a close, I’m confronted with the fact that I have no idea what the next four months of my life are going to look like. I am looking for internship opportunities in town, and if I can get paid to do drama therapy, the other work I’m doing right now might […]