Tag: mental health
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Guest appearance on Tales From The Mind Boat podcast
The brilliant storyteller and genuinely wonderful person, Trav Nash, had me as a guest on his podcast Tales from the Mind Boat. Listen to Trav’s story about working for a removal company based inside a uni. And stay listening for my story about love, loss and understanding destiny. It was a treat to do this…
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19 years ago today, my father hanged himself
Today marks 19 years since my father hanged himself. For more than half of those years, I hated him. Intensely. Fiercely. But now, having been right to the same metaphorical ledge he stood on (but stepped back and resolved never to get there again), I feel desperately sad for him. I miss him. And I…
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Adelaide Fringe 2017. That happened.
As the cool kids say, O.M.G! Adelaide Fringe was something equally wonderful and terrifying. Nothing like I ever thought truly possible, but nearly everything I dared hope, at the same time. I was to do 5 shows of HUMPTY DUMPTY DADDY, my one-person storytelling show about fatherhood, mental health, and storytelling. It’s ultimately the story…
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Before me, an open field
Before me, an open field. A grassy field. No clear tracks I should follow. I feel like I’ve been here once already, but the difference I feel now is that the absence of clear tracks excites me, rather than frightens me. I don’t mind the lack of a clear path; it means opportunity. To veer around…
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Yet another father kills themselves and leaves their kids behind
I was heartbroken to read this week that former Wallabies player Dan Vickerman had committed suicide. He was just 37 and leaves behind a wife and two sons. Awful, terrible, tragic, and all the other words of morosity. BeyondBlue, Australia’s national depression and anxiety initiative, says of the 2,500 suicides each year in Australia, 75%…
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In the face of nastiness, I will still be as strong as I can
This has been a week and a bit straight from the depths of hell. There are things going on in my life that even with my belief in candour and openness, I can’t and won’t go into right now. Some because it is now the subject of legal proceedings, and some because I simply refuse…
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Blasting away the rubbish and finding my core values
Working with a psychologist and psychiatrist on recovering, and fortifying myself from, my mental illness has been quite an experience. I almost said ‘journey’, but I loathe that cliche. Thankfully I didn’t say it 🙂 My psychologist, in particular, has been so challenging, rewarding, and empowering all at once. Challenging because I’ve confronted many demons I…
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Conscious gratitude breeds even more, and deeper, gratitude
Most of us will have heard of a ‘gratitude diary’ or similar, where you keep a notebook or something like it to write down that for which you are grateful, usually daily or weekly. Beyond a passing acknowledgement of a generally happy existence, consciously detailing specific things one is grateful for can have a profoundly…
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I thought I’d hit rock bottom. I was wrong.
A few weeks ago I shared my battle with depression and anxiety. The ‘black dog’ as Churchill dubbed it. At the time I felt the worst was over, that the future could very well be brighter, if a little bumpy, as is the way with this beast. But I was wrong. Yesterday was close to the…
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Messengers of perfect timing
Twice in my life I have been delivered – in person – powerful and timely messages from complete strangers. The first was the day of my father’s funeral, and the second was last Wednesday night. On both occasions, the message has been exactly what I needed and provided answers or hope to a major crisis…