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What Depression Feels Like (For Me)
It is as if my mind is a computer program, but a virus has entered in and corrupted the code. Every now and then the original code comes to the surface, and the program seems to run normally. For example, when I felt proud of a friend who performed at an event at my school, I recognized that emotion as part of the original code. But on a different occasion, the corrupted code was running. I was with some friends, doing an activity I know that I love, and yet I was not enjoying myself at all. In fact I kept having to talk myself into staying just a few…
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Can You Hold My Pain?
Some people are afraid to interact with people who are in pain because they feel like they don’t know what to say or do. But often people do not need to say or do anything. They just need to be willing to listen. I am forever grateful to those who have opened up their hands, arms, and homes to me, creating spaces where all of me is welcome, including my pain. I am forever grateful to those who have simply listened, without judgement, without feeling the need to fix the situation, and without commenting anything more than perhaps agreeing that what I am going through is in fact very difficult.…