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On Loneliness at 3 A.M. in Lagos
It was 3 a.m. in Onikan, a suburb of Lagos. The street below her window was uncharacteristically quiet. In the distance, she could hear the faint thump of a bass-line and the strained, faint chorus of afrobeat. She listened for the shrieks of laughter and enjoyment coming from the building down the road. In the…
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No Shame: Me, Mariah and Bipolar Disorder
I’m not ashamed to say that I cried. This morning, I woke before the sun—both the one outside my window and the healing sunlight alarm clock a good friend gifted me. This clock removes the cruel and jarring alarm sounds in favor of a gentle, artificial dawning that mimics the rising sun. It’s been unbelievably…
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When Therapy Is a Comfort
“So, what do you want to talk about today?” the thin Asian woman across from me asks. She asks this twice a week because I see her twice a week. Twice a week, I sit on a gray sofa with red accent pillows and talk for 50 minutes. She listens, often interjects and asks questions.…
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Breaking Up With Social Media Is an Act of Self-Care
I deactivated my Twitter and Facebook three months ago. I told myself it was because I needed to concentrate on writing, and social media provided too many opportunities to distract and distance myself from the work. I’m compulsive and obsessive by nature, so once I’m into something, it takes a lot of work not to…
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How Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Perfectly Tackles Mental Health Issues
I wasn’t the least bit interested in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend when I first happened upon it on the CW. If the title didn’t completely turn me off, I didn’t understand the premise. How could an entire series be built around a woman basically stalking her ex and then randomly singing about it? It just seemed weird…
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5 Apps to Make Your 2018 More Productive and Stress-Free
Many people look for different ways to minimize the time they spend on their devices, but for those of us who manage mental illness or mood disorders, “adulting” can be particularly overwhelming sometimes. Over the last few years, I’ve found a few apps that help me get through things. The apps listed below can help…
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Taxicab Confessions: On Being Friendly When You Can’t Be Bothered
The new World Trade Center in all its grotesque, sanitized and bleached whiteness still makes me a bit sick. I remember the towers before the planes hit; I remember the smoke and grief that wafted into Brooklyn after they fell. So this new whale carcass filled with high-end stores and corny tourist attractions turns my…
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It’s Complicated
Last week I watched Demi Lovato’s YouTube documentary, Simply Complicated, chronicling her well-publicized drug problem and eventual bipolar diagnosis. I remember when Demi first went public after a tabloid-filled meltdown; I was impressed by how she never hid behind the veil of “exhaustion” or tried to act as if it never happened (I’m looking at…
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Slowly in the 4th Quarter
Today was one of those “Barely get dressed” kind of days. Today was one of those “You gotta get out of the house” kind of days. Today was one of those “You can’t let the world drain you” kind of days. Today was a “Leggings off the floor, relatively clean T-shirt and closest sneakers” kinda…
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From Hallmark to the Royal Family: Why Made-for-TV Movies Are the Break From Reality We All Need
Terrible made-for-TV movies are my anti-drug and have been since I was a child. Back then they were often called “Movies of the Week” and were usually based on true stories. The “based on a true story” tag was used liberally because often that just meant, “Once there was a person who lived in a…
