Interview How to Live with a Chronic Illness, Featuring Sara Norrad Joel. Talk to me about your life from kindergarten. Sarah Norrad. I think my first memory of kindergarten was crying, crying because my mom had left. So that was a shocking experience for me to not be with my mother. I do think it’s a hard moment, for the child and the parent when it’s […] Written by Joel Mwakasege January 12, 2021January 13, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Interview Thoughts on OCD, as I Look Back On 20 Years Living With OCD The path has definitely been a bumpy/curvy one. I've had OCD for over 20 years, and the journey is far from over. It will be a life-long struggle. However, I am in a much better place now than I was as a kid. Written by Joel Mwakasege May 12, 2020May 12, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Interview A Story of My Life as I Live with a Brain Tumor, with Josh Perry I noticed the symptom very odd symptom. The muscles on the half part of my face reshuffle and never relax. And I still experienced that to this day. I went for MRI scans, multiple of them, and all sorts of other kinds of odd fine motor experiments done by neurologists. And then finally, after a week of testing, I saw an oncologist, who had all the data in all of the scans and all the other kind of write up reports from me balancing on one leg and closing one eye and so forth. He kind of looked at me within five minutes of meeting me. And said quite bluntly, he didn't seem sad to that it was unlikely that I was going to survive. This kind of brain tumor. Written by Joel Mwakasege May 3, 2020May 3, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Interview Overwhelmed by the Complexity of Chronic Pain? This May Help, Featuring Cassandra Smolcic I hit rock bottom there. There was nothing left of my life other than work in pain. My entire existence was all about pushing through the pain trying to numb the pain, just to manage. Dealing with the pain dealing with insomnia. And it got so bad that I just started getting all kinds of random sicknesses and vertigo and different viruses and things. And I was barely making it work. So I was thinking about filing for disability or killing myself. Written by Joel Mwakasege April 15, 2020April 15, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Interview Trauma Interview: Joshua Mantz J. What is Trauma? Joshua. I define trauma as an experience or situation that fundamentally alters the way I believe the world should work. My perception of the world gets flipped upside down. If I’m not able to integrate these experiences into my life. It can really leave me with a profound sense of isolation […] Written by Joel Mwakasege February 13, 2019February 13, 2019 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Interview Vulnerability Interview: Francesca What is vulnerability to you? Willingness to let others see that which you feel you must hide. It’s holding your fear with tenderness. What vulnerability feels like to you? Alive and unguarded. Why are you practicing vulnerability? To feel alive. What’s your response to a violation of you being vulnerable? A vulnerability is the willingness […] Written by Joel Mwakasege July 26, 2017July 26, 2017 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Interview Vulnerability Interview: Amy Torres What is vulnerability to you? A vulnerability is choosing to be open-minded and open-hearted in the face of any person or situation. A vulnerability is not weakness; it is flexibility and resiliency. Vulnerability requires self-awareness What vulnerability feels like to you? Vulnerability used to feel like my stomach turning to water, my knees knocking, and […] Written by Joel Mwakasege July 11, 2017July 11, 2017 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Interview Vulnerability Interview: Ellie Guzman What is vulnerability to you? Vulnerability to me is revealing my true feelings. It is completely showing when I am upset, angry, or overcome with joy. It’s sharing my hopes and fears. It’s about being open and not hiding what I am feeling at that moment. What vulnerability feels like to you? Vulnerability feels freeing, […] Written by Joel Mwakasege June 30, 2017June 30, 2017 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Interview Vulnerability Interview: Hilal Isler What is vulnerability to you? To be human is to be vulnerable. What vulnerability feels like to you? Honestly? It feels pretty scary. There’s a question American Buddhist nun Pema Chodron likes to pose: Do I prefer to grow up and relate to life directly, or do I choose to live and die in fear? […] Written by Joel Mwakasege June 22, 2017June 22, 2017 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Interview Interview: Jon Yau As lucky as we were to be accepted as new Australians. After migrating from Singapore when I was a kid. Everyone, not just me is trying to figure out how to fit in. And what to do with their lives. Even now as a 46-year-old, father, husband, and son. I still struggle to figure out my place in the world. My contribution. Do I take out more than I put in? Written by Joel Mwakasege June 14, 2017June 14, 2017 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Interview Interview:Tiffany Sun For the next 9 ½ years, I traveled back and forth to and from China with my ex. I didn’t really like living there, to be honest, because it had so much pollution, rude people, and unclean food. Not to mention, my Chinese was worst than a kindergarten’s (I couldn’t tell people what I wanted without pulling Google translate!). But I wanted to learn how to be a good “housewife.” How I could adapt to this Chinese culture I hated so much. Written by Joel Mwakasege May 24, 2017May 24, 2017 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Interview Vulnerability Interview: Fiachra O’Sullivan What is vulnerability to you? Vulnerability for me is to feel. To feel sad, fear, abandoned, powerless, alone, rejected, and shame. What vulnerability feels like to you? Vulnerable me is ever-present. It is me as my most indivisible self. Written by Joel Mwakasege May 17, 2017May 17, 2017 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Former Skinhead’s Life After Hate My eyes darted over to Matt. He stood close by, at the kiosk next to mine. With eyes narrowed in concentration, he watched my boss Dan. Instead of greeting passing shoppers and trying to lure them in for a look at merchandise, Matt watched Dan with laser-like focus. “Don’t come over! Don’t come over!” I […] Written by Chris Shafer February 16, 2021February 16, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
How to Say I Disagree In a Smart Way One of the most troubling aspects of this new hyper-digital era is our crumbling ability to communicate with people who disagree with us. There is the sense that we are shouting across a void at one another — in completely different languages. Our rebuttals are locked and loaded as we scan tweets, posts, and articles […] Written by Kenton Klassen February 9, 2021February 12, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
4 Steps to Recover From Anxiety and Depression I took several steps to recover from anxiety and depression. But the moment I realized the severity of it all, I was sixteen years old. One night I had stripped down to take a shower, and before stepping in, I saw a profile of my body; I had always been a thin kid, but horror and […] Written by Simon Hoffman January 12, 2021January 12, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
How to Recharge When You Feel Burnt Out in 3 Easy Steps Supporting people who are experiencing burnout is part of what I do for a living. As an executive coach, I often work with driven, ambitious professionals in high-power jobs who work incredibly hard; burnout is a common topic. And yet, it took me more than 2 years, culminating in a bout of stress-induced gastritis, to […] Written by Raluca Graebner December 10, 2020December 10, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Story of an Indian girl-seeking her identity Sitting in my study, looking out the window to the grey of monsoon. Thundering clouds and cold sharp breeze, makes me wonder about the years that have passed. Just like a painters promise to its blank canvas, it was hindsight’s promise of realization to me. Lived an itinerant life, my family moved around a lot […] Written by Yashi Rana November 17, 2020November 17, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Vagina Is Not A Swear Word Say It With Pride Why is there so much shame and discomfort in simply naming a part of the body? Much less, something as beautiful and powerful as a vagina Written by Damisola Sulaiman June 3, 2020June 3, 2020 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked