Sunday Neurosis

Sunday neurosis (n.) – that kind of depression which afflicts people who become aware of the lack of content in their lives when the rush of the busy week is over and the void within themselves becomes manifest (Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning) … … It’s been almost a year since I last wrote here. […]

On Writing for a Living (or How I Didn’t Become a Writer)

Once upon a time, I was a girl who dreamed of becoming a writer—that is, for the purposes of this post, one I will define as someone who does writing as a fulltime profession, or at least has published a book. Since the time I was about 10 y.o., I had been an active campus […]

Reasons to Stay Alive: 5 Lessons on Depression

trigger warning: depression, suicide “So what, you have a label? ‘Depressive’. Everyone would have a label if they asked the right professional.” ~ Matt Haig Today, I wanna share with you things I’ve learned from Matt Haig‘s infinitely important book, Reasons to Stay Alive. Matt himself lived through depression and came terrifyingly close to attempting suicide. […]

Away, Against, Toward: The 3 Neurotic Trends

A child is small. It starts out life mostly dependent on others for survival, essentially helpless and at the mercy of the people around him. … Now, to this child one of two things may happen. On the one hand, the child may experience genuine warmth and affection from his parents. This satisfies the child’s […]

When Sunflowers Stop Following the Sun

“She’d seen a video of a young sunflower turning its head from east to west to follow the sun and then, in the darkness of the night, eerily ratcheting back to face east. The moment the sun rose, the sunflower was ready. ‘That plant,’ she remembers thinking, ‘seems to know when and where the sun […]

We’re All Gonna Die, So…

trigger warning: death, suicide Death has been a recurring thought for me this past couple of weeks. Not in the sense that I desire it upon myself anytime soon, but in the sense that recent events have forced me to reckon the reality of it in the midst of life. Within the past two months […]

If You’ve Ever Lost Someone

Loss doesn’t happen the same way each time. … If you’ve ever lost someone, by your own actions — like because you were mean, or pushed them away, or did something stupid — apologize. Whenever possible, make amends. Forgive yourself. … If you’ve ever lost someone, by their actions — like because they were mean, or pushed you […]

Why I Blog (A Ranking of 4 Motives)

“Putting aside the need to earn a living, I think there are four great motives for writing, at any rate for writing prose. They exist in different degrees in every writer, and in any one writer the proportions will vary from time to time, according to the atmosphere in which he is living.” ~ George […]

Believe Me When I Say

I hope you believe me when I say— You are going to be okay. You are okay.  … You are not your mistakes. You are not a mistake. … You are not lacking. You are not too much. … You are worthy of love. You are loved. … You’ve done enough. You are enough. ♥ … […]

God & Religion, Depression & Suicide

trigger warning: depression, suicide The recent suicide of a young Filipina artist has been publicized through a post on Facebook. The post compiles an image of her last artwork (which depicted an apparent suicide), some of her selfies, and screenshots of her Facebook posts that expressed feelings of loneliness and pain, words about depression, and […]