<Note: on the 9th November 2023 I had surgery to remove all my remaining adult teeth and replace them with dentures. This was due to the pain and trauma I had experienced over a period of 18 months at the hands of a dentist who removed a tooth in such a way that I experienced […]
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Black Dogs, Black Thoughts
I’ve been working for a while now on a project, selecting stories for an anthology to raise money and awareness for the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand. I’ve been supported by a fantastic, international team of writers and editors to pull this together, and the end is finally in sight. But it feels strange […]
Journey Tree
I had been plagued for weeks by a recurrent dream involving a tree, but of what species I could not tell. Its branches were long and its leaves were wide, and its trunk was smothered in patches of green moss and layers of loose bark. As I got closer to it, it reached out to […]
Long Distance
Flash fiction challenge: 500 word romance using the word “spring.” I’ve done it again. Just like I always do. My mouth was in gear but my brain was in neutral, saying words I didn’t really mean. It’s hard for me. I’m not like you, I’m much more emotional. You twist me around like a coiled spring, wind me up […]
Child of the Sea
I’m a water baby, I’ve known that forever. I grew up by the North Sea and I swam in it quite regularly even though it’s bastard cold and murky grey and you’d be well advised not to swallow even a drop of it. The worst part of wearing hearing aids for me is having to […]
Finding My Way Back
My regular readers and followers will know that I frequently write for mental health. I’m also aware that this often turns people off too. “Oh great, she’s going on about depression again.” “Why does she always focus on the serious stuff?” “She must be pretty unstable if she has to keep focusing on all that.” […]
Well-Written – Writing for Wellness
I run an online blog and support group called Well-Written; a writing group which encourages women to write for positive mental health. We share our ideas and creativity, and we listen to what we all have to say. It is aimed at being an empowering and nurturing space not just to write about mental health […]
The Waiting Room
Fact or fiction? … You decide. It’s exactly two years to the day that I reacted to some medicine my doctor gave me, passed out, cracked my head open and gave myself a serious concussion. Two years since I almost choked on my own vomit and died. Two years since I visited the Waiting Room […]
Lines
These lines on my face do not worry me They are not imperfections which I feel the need to hide These lines are the roadmap of my journey They are creases in the pages of my story They are tiger stripes earned through courage, strength and determination They are cracks in the glaze of a […]