‘Crazy pills.’ When someone sees me taking my daily anxiety medication and asks me what they are for that is my reply. I don’t know if it is the fact that I am from the island of Ireland, or if it is some deeper dysfunction, but this reply is typical of my propensity to self-deprecate. In my head, these kind of comments are an attempt at diffusing the awkwardness of the situation by making the focus of the conversation my blunt answer rather than the fact that I have to take medication to stop my own brain from attacking me. … Continue reading What it is like to take Mental Health Medication.

This has been going round my head for weeks. I love America and loved every minute I have spent there, but I hate a lot about how America behaves. It’s a long thread. When I lived in Illinois I was bombarded by the phrase ‘God Bless America.’ It was in church services and on bumper stickers. It was always in proximity to ‘Land of the Free.’ God bless the land of the free!20 years later I realise that America was already blessed and already the land of free, but only for some. The rich and often white population, the lovely … Continue reading #GodBlessAmerica

I see you. I see you with your pearls clutched close, afraid and offended by the one who dares exist in your air. I see you with second glances, your keeping aware of his movements on your street. I see your curtains twitch and your questions, ‘who is that? Why is he here?’ I hear you ask her again, ‘no where are you from? And before that?’ casting doubt one her identity. I see your hand read for that babies hair, ‘it’s just like wool. Aren’t their babies so cute.’ I see you. I see you stifle a laugh as … Continue reading I see you

Nobody wins. When a country sits one part aghast as its leaders and their aides appear to gaslight them, and another part triumphant, as the detractors are put in their place by those same leaders and aides, nobody wins. Nobody wins as the deaths of a few thousand people, ripped from their families by a virus we aren’t close to defeating, are a side note to the story of the day. Nobody wins when we are told the rules we worked hard to adhere to were more flexible should our instincts deem our situations exceptional. Could we have said goodbye? … Continue reading In this Dominic Cummings Saga, Nobody Wins.

I’m sure I’m just overthinking things as usual but, in spite of the fact that this lockdown is already kicking me square in the mental health, I’m now also beginning to worry about the emotional and mental impact the end of the lockdown is going to have. This lockdown is difficult. I miss people. I miss good conversations and hugs. I miss laughing at bad jokes and judging people on trains for their food or their hairstyles. I feel exhausted all the time despite not doing much at all. I am grumpier than usual, much to the pleasure of my … Continue reading What’s next? 6 things that might help us leave lockdown well. Whenever that may be.

Our 4 year old has been discovering Lego. I also need to get out more. Here are 10 life lessons from Lego. 1: A life of discontent is like a Lego rebuild; you will never find the missing piece, and … Continue reading 10 Lessons from Lego – by a bored Father.