Read True Life Stories
CHILDHOOD ABUSE – I SURVIVED, SO CAN YOU!
By James I was born in a beautiful little town in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The first nine years of my life were wonderful. However, in beginning in 1967, my childhood was abruptly changed forever. Often, when I would go to play at my best friend’s house, his older brother would
Why Living With Anxiety Is Like Walking on Custard
The following is an adaptation of a TED Talk from TEDxLeamingtonSpa called “Walking on Custard: How Physics Helps Anxious Humans.”
Fear usually pops up when we do something scary: jumping from planes, running from bulls… going clothes shopping…
But sometimes our response gets out of control, and we end up spending a disproportionate amount of time feeling afraid. We call this “anxiety.”
Language is limiting, and it’s frustrating we use the same word — anxiety — for both “reasonably worrying about a job interview” and also “crippling terror which prevents me from leaving the house.” It’s like having the same word for “all-out nuclear war” and “playful tickle fight.”
Anxiety is a spectrum, and so the association each of us has with the word might be different. For me, I’ve always been at the more unpleasant end of the spectrum. As a child, I was deeply worried about mortgages — for some reason — and then as I grew up it became obvious worrying was my main way of relating to the world.
Willis 1985
We chewed pancakes and sipped our juice, lost in our private thoughts.
“Coffee?” I interrupted her stare into space.
“Oh, I would love some, thanks.”
As we sat on the couch together to enjoy our coffee, I asked, “And you Marge, do you have any of these dreaded moments that you’ve hidden far away in your past, and would like to share?”
“Oh yes, I have quite a few of those horrible moments, thankfully deeply buried. And you?”
“Oh yes. Me too. Okay, I’ll tell you mine, if you tell me yours.”
Learning to See the World as A Place of Excitement and Wonder Again
A few days ago, she told me that I wasn’t allowed to pick dandelions.“It’s what the shrews eat mummy! If you pick them, you’re taking their food!”
Spending my Work Sabbatical at Big Sur California
My second sabbatical destination was in Big Sur on the high cliffs of the central Pacific coast where I registered as ‘work study’ for eight weeks at the somewhat isolated 120 acres of the Esalen Institute. I pictured myself wearing crystals while learning more psychobabble.
Predatory Behavior
My first boyfriend was 19 when I was 14. He told me that “I wasn’t like girls his age”, that I was “different”
Sophie’s Story – Medication plus Therapy Can Be the Answer for Bipolar Disorders
From birth, you could tell there was something different about me.
Turning Hope Into Action: How To Shake Off Pessimism and Become An Optimist
I’m often called optimistic, it’s not something I’ve ever consciously tried to be but it’s a state of mind I always seem to have. I completely sympathise with pessimistic people, life is often cruel and unfair, we’re ruled by greedy and selfish psychopaths…
Black Lives Matter
At Stozzys.com we are in full support of the Black Lives Matter movement and in driving change so that all voices are heard equally. We have a blog dedicated to #BlackLivesMatter, which will be released shortly.
Perfect – ha!
I’m perfect. Just want to let you know, because I tell myself that all the time: no mistakes allowed! Any mistakes reveal a fatal flaw and must be severely punished and never repeated.