Tag: mentalhealth
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The shortest day: mental health in a time of change
We’ve reached the shortest day — at least here in the Northern hemisphere. Maximum darkness. Minimum light. As I look at the storm outside my study window, though it’s daytime, it’s gloomy. Barely above half-light. The clouds are low and dense. Everything, sky, earth, trees, the very air itself, sucks light in and gives out…
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How to interact online
…and not make things worse while you’re trying to make them better In bitter times, Social Media is a cesspool. I’m talking about how we choose to interact — with friends, colleagues, strangers. I’m talking about how the desire many of us have to do good, to be healthy and contribute to creating a better…
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A day of darkness
And I was so full of good intentions Some days you stride forward. Some days you stay still. Some days you must walk away. I woke today full of good intention. I reached my desk with a clear mind. Then a shadow fell. A conversation yesterday came back and I heard it differently. I wondered…
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What doesn’t kill you…
Calling bullshit. ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’. Bullshit. Let’s kick that into touch for a start. What doesn’t kill you can still hurt like hell. It can break your spirit. It can destroy your self-confidence. It can make you scared to try again. It can darken your world. It can snuff out your…
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The Joy of being Left Alone
See that small mark? It’s almost nothing. I’d miss it if I wasn’t looking. Two days ago it was the focus of everything. Through that small hole, a tube was inserted. Through the tube, dye was injected into my heart. I lay beneath a huge camera which revealed the deepest workings of my physical being.…
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I talk to my car
He makes me a better person. I talk to my car. Doing so makes me a better person. I also talk to my cooker, paintbrushes and washing machine. Sometimes I talk to the gravel on the drive, but I admit I worry the neighbours might hear. My relationship with things I talk to is real.…
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The most toxic thought of all.
It’s the most toxic thought of all. It underlies much unhappiness, self-sabotage, violence, anger, deceit, and so many other of the world’s ills. It’s a thought none of us are born with, but most of us learn. It takes many forms, but at foundation it’s simple this: ‘I’m not good enough.’ Sometimes it appears as:…
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Adapt or Reject?
When the world seems impossible….. Fit in/drop out? Adapt to ‘the system’/leave the system? Accommodate to the world/imagine new worlds into being? I write these as binaries — suggesting an either/or response. They’re actually dyads — two perspectives required for healthy growth. We live in times of exceptional, unsustainable and inhuman stress. The societies we’ve…
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It’s not your fault
…but might be your responsibility. For many of us, surviving is pretty tough right now — financially, emotionally, in terms of mental and physical health, maintaining relationships and community connectedness, keeping alive the spark of passion and joy. There’s a lot of pressure. Most of us feel it. All of us see how the pressure…