Dear Books…

Dear Books, How long is it now that we've been friends? I lose track - too many years to count. You were there before I even really understood you. Before I could read your words and decipher your tales for myself. Before I could even determine which way your pages turned or which part of [...]

It’s #TimeToTalk – Being Your Own Best Friend

It's an age old problem that we tend to be terrible at taking our own advice. We are our own worse critics and things that seem logical and sensible when we say it to our friends somehow become ridiculous and impossible when we think about it in relation to ourselves. We would never look at [...]

It’s #TimeToTalk – Taking Up Space

We all know that one of the common and nasty side effects of struggling with a mental illness is the tendency to believe ourselves to be unworthy. Unworthy of love, unworthy of opportunities, unworthy of happiness. And a common side effect of those feelings of unworthiness is the tendency to make ourselves smaller. To attempt, [...]

Being Emotionally Honest

This week was Mental Health Awareness Week and all week I've been wanting and meaning to write something to share with you, my lovely readers. But I've had a funny mental health week and have just not quite been in the right frame of mind. I've felt edgy, restless and anxious, as if something is [...]

Finding Happiness

Today is International Happiness Day. I have been thinking a lot about happiness recently; I think I am generally a happy sort of person. I have a wonderful life and there are many things in my everyday that make me very happy indeed. I also sometimes feel profoundly unhappy, for no discernible reason, and subsequently [...]

It’s #TimeToTalk, Now

It's easy to be too busy Or say It's not the right time To worry that you'll make it worse So you accept their fumbled "Fine." It's hard to find the moment For hearing truth And depth But really we're just finding excuses To keep ourselves Deaf To all the pain that gathers When people [...]

Whatever The Weather

The last few weeks have been a bit of a blur. We’ve gained a family member in the shape of the most beautiful springer spaniel puppy; I’ve been more poorly than I’ve been in a very, very long time; my less than lovely anxiety beastie has been going a bit haywire, causing me all sorts [...]