Life Through Writing

Mental health is a funny thing. We live in a time when we're more open, more honest, more willing to learn and listen about people's experiences, but it's still not enough. There is still a massive stigma attached to talking about mental health, admitting that you have a problem; or, in my personal experience, disbelief that I could have a problem, because on the surface, I have everything that someone needs to be happy. So, it's easier to not saying about it. It's easier to let people believe and say whatever they want, because they don't want to be educated. They say they do, but as soon as you mention you struggle mentally, suddenly, you're someone they don't know. You're an alien. And, I've been guilty of this too, I have been guilty of treating people differently when I find out that they may be struggling. And that's difficult. It's difficult to know how to treat them, because the dynamic will change, there's no way to get ar...

Let's talk about being alone. No, that isn't quite the right place to start. I suppose the place to start would be what kind of person you are. And I know that sounds like an awfully large question. Who are you? This isn't about existentialism, and it isn't about soul searching and looking deep within yourself for answers. This, and what I want to talk about is something much simpler than that. It's about whether you identify as an extrovert or an introvert. There's some people who thrive of off being the centre of attention. You know the ones, the ones who are always the life of the party, always with a joke ready and desperately trying to include you. The ones who, whenever you message them, always seem to have their social calendar booked up several years in advance. The ones who embody the sentiment of ' the more the merrier' . And then you have the introverts, people like me. They're the ones that like being around people, but not too much. T...

What has been on my mind over this last week? All sorts of things, but one of the things that I've always thought about is being selfish. I touched on this a little bit last week, about being selfish but not for the reason of being a bad person. Selfishness and being a person you can't be proud of aren't mutually exclusive. And, I know that narcissism and selfishness aren't the same thing, but on some level, isn't everything connected? I've always loved the Greek myth of Narcissus. I've always loved Greek mythology to begin with, but Narcissus' tale has always had a twinge of humour to it. A sense of karma, if you will. That the man who was so in love with himself eventually got what was coming to him. Tricked by Nemesis (the goddess of revenge) he's lured to a pool of water and falls in love with his own reflection, not realising that it is himself. In an attempt to be one with the reflection, he drowns, when he tries to embrace this figment. Of ...