Musings and journaling on all things (intersectional) feminism & mental health
Therapy does not fix you. It does not give you answers on a platter and does not make your feelings disappear. It encourages you to pause and look at yourself, stepping out of the house and looking through the window, from the outside looking in. Self awareness is a wonderful gift, one we should take… Continue reading Therapy: 7 Lessons from The Outside Looking in.
"Unbridled Joy" The world is a bit much right now. Cost of living crisis, War, Endless Pandemic, Systemic Racism, Misogyny, Unbridled Hatred, Mental Health crisis, Climate Crisis.. The list is long. Sometimes, all I want is give up, forget, bury my head in the sand and pretend the world does not exist because it is… Continue reading Hold on to.
Never forgetThe importance of playThe joy it brings youShapes, Words, texture, coloursNo boundariesNo rulesNo consequencesSo let it goThere isSome kind of magicEndless possibilitiesIn the simplest of acts. * But rememberThat it does not matterThere is no pressure On the pageWrite, Draw, PaintA new oneAnytime, AnydayBask in imperfectionEmbrace itBreathe and letThat wonderful mind of yoursGrow, Absorb, DigestThe… Continue reading The importance of play…
I don't want to forgetHow to playNot nowNot neverNo matter what they sayI'll always make room for itIn the smallest of waysI'll always rememberHow to playFor the sake of it * Because I'm sometimesMad at the worldFor steering us away fromWhat mattersAnd making us forgetHow to playLists and tick boxesHustling awayAlways aiming forThe next thing… Continue reading How to play 🙂
I had forgotten..How good it feelsTo move your brushYour penOn a piece of blank paperNo end goalNo ruleNo how toJust a placeTo unapologetically errTry, wanderWith wonderNot fearAt what's to come I had forgottenHow good it feelsTo be in a spaceWhere there is no struggleNo right, no wrongNo expectationsBecause It doesn't matterYou can just beYou don't… Continue reading I had forgotten…
There's no guaranteeThere's no telling when It's sometimes hard toBe comfortableWith that truthBut once you tryAnd once you doStop to controlEvery single thingAround youIt becomesEasierand you begin to feelA little bit lighter. All alongYou willTryFailSucceedSmash itGet it rightGet it wrongRuin it There's no guaranteeThere's no telling when All you can doIs try your bestAll you… Continue reading A little bit lighter
RelentlesslyComingAnd goingUnapologeticallyCrashing downAll overMajesticallyUp in the airThe soothing resilienceOf that rollingAnd smashing rhythmParadoxicallyReminds meNothingEver lastForever.
* Tear off the label You've stuck on Yourself Year after Year You kept on telling yourself I am because I lived * Sure, The story is yours How you feel is Valid It's made you Who you are But you are so much more Than what you've lived You are All that is yet… Continue reading All that is yet to come
If there is one thing that those numerous lockdowns have taught us, it's the importance of focusing on the small things we can control (- especially when shit hits the fan - ) in order to maintain as good a mental health as we can. No need to say, easier said than done. Especially for… Continue reading Building a routine for your Mental Health… Why the smallest ways matter 🙂 x
Long time no see 🙂 I started journaling aka writing for my own self quite recently again. I had more or less dropped journaling for a while, 3-4 months and now I am back at it again. I am trying to use journaling to also record the good times. Ok, it's a tool for reflection… Continue reading Anxiety or life in monochrome
Have you ever had that feeling, a strong urge to press pause? There are so many things we've been told we should strive for and achieve, it's dizzying. Buy a house, keep it tidy at all times. Make money (to pay for the house), a lot of, enough, as much as you can. Be productive… Continue reading It’s all about the ride… & no one should tell you how to drive.
Not your typical Mental Health non fiction book.. Lindo's book explores Mental Health through an intersectional lens. 'Radical belonging' by Lindo Bacon is a book on mental health unlike any other. This is to my knowledge, one of the only books on mental health which has a really intersectional dimension. It is a book which… Continue reading Book review: Lindo Bacon “Radical Belonging” or Why Mental Health is a Political Issue.
Before I start delving deeper, little disclaimer here. I am not a Mental Health professional nor do I claim that I hold the universal truth here. MH is a complex and nuanced topic. We're of course talking about highly individual and personal experiences. 1. Yes, others might have it worse than you.. but this does… Continue reading 4 Lessons I have learnt from times of Mental Health crisis
Defining trauma as a highly individual experience When we think about trauma, experiences like sexual assault or surviving a war often come to mind. These experiences are undoubtedly highly traumatic and can lead to severe PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). How do you define trauma? A traumatic event is an event which threatens an individual's… Continue reading Trauma through the intersectional lens: Why we are all not equal in the face of it.
Like many people out there, I find exerting control over my life pretty reassuring. Control can come in many forms. It can be about organisational skills, planning your daily life , planning for the future tracking your mood/ steps/ water intake - you get the gist. Control is not necessarily a bad thing. You see,… Continue reading Is your need for ‘control’ preventing you from growing and achieving your goals?
Artwork by me 🙂 @the_serial_paper_ripper on Instagram 1. Being creative teaches you to trust your own self Oftentimes, when I create something, for example when I collage, I instinctively think about what feels right and make split second decisions as to which colour to chose, what piece of paper to stick. I don't go by… Continue reading 3 Things I learnt from ‘Being Creative’
Dear Chloé, Right now, young people your age are trying to make sense of the world around them. And it's quite hard to do that when you are a teenager. Because the world is messy, complex, full of contradictions and quite hard to navigate. So what they do, is put people into boxes. Because that's… Continue reading Letter to My Teenage Self.
As you all know, mental health is a subject quite dear to my heart. Over time, I have learnt to challenge my long held beliefs about productivity and work. It took quite some time, and there are a few things I have come to realise along the way, which I think are worth sharing. 1.… Continue reading 4 things I have learnt about Productivity, Mental Health and my Relationship to Work
Or as I would rather call it "moving my body". Call it a personal opinion, but to me, the expression "physical exercise" is rather rigid, and loaded. I find the expression "Moving my body" way more encompassing. My relationship with exercise has been a fluctuating one, good, and sometimes bad, a bit like a love/hate… Continue reading 5 Things I Have Learnt on ‘Exercise’ and What It Should TRULY Be About
What's that book about!? In her book, Feminism, Interrupted, Lola Olufemi explores in depth the short comings of liberal mainstream feminism. She explains that whilst mainstream feminism has helped democratise feminist issues and making them accessible to the public, it fails at looking at the many structural problems (racism, sexism, capitalism, poverty amongst many others)… Continue reading Feminism, Interrupted – Lola Olufemi
Girl with a loud pen 