The difference a year can make, eh?

A single, year-old photo popped up on my memories recently. A picture of me and my old school friends at a local cocktail bar.

It's all smiles and silliness. And the night was an excellent, well-needed catch-up of laughter and reminiscing. From that snapshot, you'd never suspect my mental health and business had both come crashing down over the previous six months.

Also, little did I know, the next day I'd have the final fight with my then-girlfriend. Cue crazy, irrational, rollercoaster-heartbreak madman-behaviour. (If you know, you know).

We're pretty terrible at predicting the future

The sun will rise tomorrow. Kick your bed-frame, it'll bloody-well hurt. But some things aren't so predictable. Or at least, prior outcome-certainty does us few favours.

Sick days. Appliance breakdowns. Snow at Christmas. Pandemics. Brexit referendums. All things we can plan for and with. But not with absolute where-and-when certainty.

"Necessity is the mother of invention" goes the old proverb. When the sh1t hits the proverbial, we get more creative and consider other avenues. In other words, we start to think "maybe I need to do something different here".

A lot's changed since those cocktails

I used to be militantly anti-antidepressants. Until fluoxetine pretty much saved my life in 2022.
I was convinced I'd end up at the end of a noose if I had to go back to employed work. And now I work both in an NHS Doctor's Surgery and as a Peer Support Facilitator for Mind BLMK. (And I chuffing-well love it).
I thought it'd be impossible to work two part-time jobs, be a therapist on top, AND have time to devote to music. (Spoiler alert: it's not).
I also never thought I'd trust myself to take on an undergraduate degree. Then I signed up for a BSc in Psychology with Counselling in February 2024 with the Open University. (Send help. Please).

Sometimes more's possible than we know it is.

What have you been wrong about in a most excellent way?

P.S. As of October this year, all one-to-one therapeutic sessions are now half the cost (£30 from £60). Sponsored by Cozzie Livs UK. Book a session here.