Photo by Ryan Moulton on Unsplash I want to talk about depression today. Back in 2011, I was officially diagnosed with a severe mood disorder. My doctor called it a volatile combination of depression and generalized anxiety - with a big 'ol heaping of agoraphobia on top. This is the burden I carried with me every day, to and from college, and then I dragged it through every job I could hold down for more than a year. And by some miracle, in the last two years, it felt like that burden was becoming lighter and easier to carry with me. I made the mistake of thinking I could carry it across the country during a pandemic with no repercussions. I was so sure it wouldn't rear its ugly head while my partner and I tolerated month-long Airbnb reservations and desperately searched for jobs. I thought it would stay quiet while I grappled with the reality of not being able to visit family and friends for more than just safety reasons. Now, there are thousands of miles between me and ev
It's a pretty darn good view, but I'll admit it's probably not the best in the entire city. I'm certainly not complaining though because is what I can stare up at when I have my morning coffee and also what I'm gazing at right now as I type this up... D and I moved on October 27th and almost immediately started shopping around for furniture. For the first few nights we had to sleep on an air mattress and stand around the kitchen counter to eat, but it was our place. Our first official place together and that was pretty exciting. The next step was buying a bed. I'll be honest here -- I've never had a brand new mattress. Something like that had never been in my budget. It's a game changer. Apparently, sleeping on old, used mattresses definitely contributes to chronic neck and back pain. Those days are over. I sleep well. I can wake up early and without the usual aches or pains. The mattress also came with a set of sheets and these two incredible memory