It’s 9.32am, and I am walking out of the house. It’s cold, but not quite enough to need gloves. I’m a little bit jumpy, because I’m about to go and do something intimidating. Is it a job interview? An exam? No, it’s much more mundane. It’s an eye test. The …
Your Normal Is My Scary: 2 – Bra Fitting
I’ve always had a difficult relationship with clothing. It’s partly, perhaps even primarily, tied to my anxiety over money. But it’s also the fact that, well, our world isn’t the best to women who aren’t the “standard” size or shape. Which in the UK is about 3 sizes and nothing …
tiny vibrations
I amthe tinyvibration of doubtthat you thinkis an earthquakecome to falland crush your dreams but don’t worry I have a cousinher name is hopeshe is a sparka flicker of lightbut cast into darknessshe is salvation ride my waves, little onehope is coming for youin the wake of my storm
IRL, and the importance of our pixelated lives
I got onto the internet at a very young age. My father, a software developer, would hand down no-longer-sufficient computers to my brothers and I. We always had the highest speed internet despite living in the countryside. And so, as I grew older and more inclined towards anxiety, I spent …
Letter to the Weary
I’m writing this for my future self – she’s going to need it, at some point. I thought you might like it as well. Save it, write your own, do whatever you need with this bit of care for your future self. Dear you, This is for a terrible day. Not the most terrible of days; not the ones where your soul has been peeled from your body and scraped across the mountain of your sorrows. For the days that are terrible, unexpectedly so, because everything just became a bit too …
The Voices of Silent Things
This is the piece that I submitted as my primary writing sample for university. It’s the background for a character in the Invisible Sun world – her life in Shadow – though you don’t need to know the setting to appreciate it. I really hope you like it. When I was a child, in the life that was not a real life, I often wondered what the silent voices of the world sounded like. What curses did my grandmother’s chair let out when she sank into it? If my father chopped …
The Great University Adventure: It’s Happening
Last year, I talked about my plans to apply for a MA in Creative Writing at my local university. For me, this isn’t just the chance to study the thing I love. It’s the culmination of the redemption that my recovery from severe depression has given me. It’s me regaining …
I do things in isolation too much
We’re continuing today with a week of reflecting on my own qualities that need improvement. Today’s one is a single point, but one that pervades almost every corner of my life. And, perhaps not surprisingly, it’s this: I spend too much time doing things in isolation. This might seem an …
Perseverence
as I climbup this mountainknowing another lies beyondand another beyond thatan endless stretch of impossible climbs may I rememberthat I am not climbing it aloneand that it is okay, sometimesto stop and admire the view.
Should I be talking about mental illness so much? – a response to The Financial Diet
This week, I want to do something a bit different. We’re nearing the end of get organised month, and there’s a part of progressing that I have always, always ignored: facing my negative characteristics. Things I’m doing wrong. Things that are fundamental about me that need to change. Last week, …
Read More "Should I be talking about mental illness so much? – a response to The Financial Diet"
Bullet Journal Fatigue Is Real
I have kept a bullet journal for a couple of years now, and I have absolutely adored it. It’s made me more creative, helped me get organised, and helped me truly appreciate just how much I do manage to do – even on days where it feels like I have …