Shit you won’t find in a Self Help Book!

‘Mental health’ is a phrase we hear all the time, but what we rarely see is the messy, unphotogenic side of it.  The part that doesn’t get all dressed up, looking pretty for Instagram.  It’s not always therapy rooms, tidy diagnoses, or inspirational quotes on pastel coloured backdrops.  It can be that though and for some people it has to be, but for so many of us, it’s the invisible stuff.  Sometimes it’s staring at your toothbrush like it’s a weapon of mass destruction.  Sometimes it’s crying in the shower because washing your hair feels like the hardest thing in the world.  Sometimes it’s cancelling plans, switching off socials, or avoiding texts because the thought of one more interaction makes your skin crawl. The last month & a bit for me has been heavy.  Maybe it’s the leftover grief from July. It’s like the whole month is a weight I carry in my chest.  This year, August felt like the hangover from that, or maybe the grief just seeped fu...

Sometimes when you speak your truth, everything falls apart. The friendship. The romance. The illusion. The fragile scaffolding of who you were trying to be, just to keep the peace. This isn’t the pretty part of healing. It’s not poetic. It’s raw, messy & often devastating. Because truth isn’t always soft. Sometimes truth is the earthquake that reveals the fault lines. Sometimes it’s the final straw that breaks a connection wide open. Sometimes… it’s the most liberating thing you will ever do, even if it costs you. I say this, because I’ve spoken my truth and lost people along the way.  A friend once asked me for honesty, in fact she begged me to not hold back. So I gave it to her. Gently & thoughtfully. She thanked me for being a ‘true friend’ & we kept talking for a few weeks after … Then boom. Unfriended. Gone. No explanation. But it wasn’t just me, both my kids got it too! Another time was with my ex. He said something super cruel while we were away with his parents...