Humanity
I’m Ready To Give Up On A Post-Pandemic World. Here’s Why.
April 2020. The world was in lockdown, businesses were shut (some unlucky few never to reopen), streets were empty, coffee shops looked strange dark and locked. I had never seen this in my life, and dearly hoped I never would again. Onward to January 2021. In my country we had been promised “next year will be better”, over and over and over. But it was no better. It eerily echoed the previous spring. I felt sick and numb with misery, stuck doing lectures for my super-tough law degree over Zoom, crying nightly because I believed I could never graduate with the world like this. I know many people who gained something, a new skill, new hobby, someone managed to start their own business. I didn’t. During the lockdown, the endless days spent alone, trapped in my own head, I seemed to o nothing but lose. Money from being out of my hospitality job, sleep from the crippling insomnia I developed and still havent’t fully recovered from, opportunities, friends, and more importantly, time. Time is the cruellest mistress, which might sound funny coming from a 23 year old (21 when the pandemic began) in usual times, but from a 23 year old who’s lost 18 months of her life, not so. What support did I have in this time? Virtually none, honestly. I was “friends” with someone who was compltely unavailable but expected me to cater to every whim, mental health support teams became utterly exasperated with me, my sleep struggles were a source of amusement for my family and something they frequently lectured me on. Even with things having returned to some semblance of normality, I’ve been able to begin working and attending in person classes again at least, the new threat from Omicron looms far too large. I don’t know what will come next, and I don’t want to fear it, but fearing the unknown is just far too common.
By Remy Dhami4 years ago in Confessions
A Rude Awakening
Before I share with you this moment of self-revelation, there are a few things I should probably tell you about myself. I’m a pastor. Well, technically I’m a reverend, an elder in full connection with the Great Plains Conference of The United Methodist Church. But I never liked the title of Reverend for myself. It always made me feel set apart (& somehow above), the members of the congregations I served, not to mention all the folks with whom I worked outside of the church. Whether in deference or with resentment, the title seemed to elevate me in the eyes of others to a place of spiritual & moral superiority that never quite felt right.
By Randy Wayne Jellison-Knock4 years ago in Confessions
Majique MiMi’s Coffee & Cannabis
For whatever reason, Folgers Black Silk with Caramel Syrup, a lil bit of sugar, & Pumpkin Spice Creamer is on POINT. But not for nothin, and I know I’m probably late to the game, but as someone who used to have a $100 a month * “Fast Beverage” habit, I found that spraying whipped cream on my coffee in the mawnin makes a big difference.
By Majique MiMi4 years ago in Confessions
Confession from depression
A sweet start is something that everyone had but we lost everything in childhood. No one talks about how life is when you start getting better, after 5 years of depression at the beginning of 2021 I finally started feeling better. But now even though I’m grateful that I don't feel the same and I don't struggle every day to still be here, I feel empty. When I started to heal and cut off all the bad people and gave up using people to fill an emptiness in my soul, I realised how much depression was stuck to my bone.
By Mona4 years ago in Confessions
An Unprecedented Interview
On January 27th 2017, in what now feels like a lifetime ago, former President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 13769. With the stroke of a pen, a law effectively restricted travel to the United States for citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.
By Bashar Salame4 years ago in Confessions
5 more minutes
Last year, I vowed that my next New Year's Resolution would be to stop making New Year's Resolutions because they never made it past the January 5th mark. See, I've always chosen resolutions in the realm of extreme weight loss, extreme self-control, extreme this or that, and they never panned out because they weren't realistic. But this year...this is the year I think I might actually obtain my goal and fulfill my resolution. This year's resolution is going to be to just...sleep.
By Ashleigh Riley4 years ago in Confessions
Indescribable rage and the eye for vengeance
Is letting things go ever as easy as letting things go? You often get told by your friends and peers that " you're better than that" or " do not lower yourself to their level". However, if we are pragmatic about dealing with negative emotions towards a situation that has affected your wellbeing, is it truly easy just to let things go?
By Takudzwa Dembe4 years ago in Confessions
My first ever counselling session
I will never forget my first counselling session. After repetitive pleas from my friends to go, I finally booked an appointment. Even then, as I was booking, I was still skeptical. I had deluded myself into believing that I was supposed to do it all on my own, that I needed no help.
By Ruth4 years ago in Confessions
An Ode to My Youth. Top Story - December 2021.
As my 25th birthday looms, I can't help but think about all the time I spent dreaming as a kid. Fixating on all the issues in the world that I would never have any direct control over. The countless hours I spent with my iPod Nano playing the melodies that would later launch me into moments of deep nostalgia. As the remnants of my childhood self start to fade and I evolve into this girl woman who aims to take the world by storm.
By Loraina Calderon4 years ago in Confessions
Beyond These Walls
The woman standing in front of me is my neighbor but she doesn’t know it. She lives in the unit on the other side of my flat’s northwestern corner wall. And as much as I'd like it, we may not actually share a wall at all, just the empty space in between plywood sheets where mice and rat droppings—and hopefully no snakes—might be found.
By Elle Kim4 years ago in Confessions
