Sans 1 Soprano

Sunday, August 24, 2008
Day 13 on Lexapro.
9:36 pm
I am okay. Another long day that went too quickly. Tomorrow I have to return to work.

I skipped church again this morning. I just felt like I wasn’t ready to deal with the crowds. Masses of people usually do not bother me, but when I am in panic [...]

Birdseed

Looking back now, I know I had been depressed as a kid. I think it probably started at around the age of ten. I don’t remember if there was a life-changing event that happened then, or if maybe that was just the point when my brain didn’t know how to function anymore. Yes, there were [...]

Cuckoo’s Nest

He found me sitting next to one of the payphones in the common lobby, crying over an ex-boyfriend with whom I’d just had a less-than-stellar conversation. It had only been a couple of days since I’d admitted myself into the lockdown unit of a mental health hospital on the outskirts of Chicago. I was still [...]

Wastelands

Saturday, August 23, 2008
Day 12 on Lexapro.
10:49 pm
11:30am ~ Today I am sitting here, allowing my mind go to the Wastelands again because I have too much time on my hands. At the same time, I’m all anxious because I feel like this is the only free day I have to get everything done.
And [...]

Sort of Nice

Friday, August 22, 2008
Day 11 on Lexapro.
10:10 pm

Don’t get your hopes up because I’m wearing lipstick today.

Amazing. How can I complain? Today was certainly not the best day I’ve had, but, compared to its predecessors, it was pretty damn good.

First, I slept well. I even slept all night. I woke up at 2:30am, [...]

Gee, Honey

Thursday, August 21, 2008
Day 10 on Lexapro.
written 1 day later.
“why are you so mean to me/
gee, honey, it seems to me/
you love to see me cryin’”

Following a day that seemed to offer a reprieve from the constant panic and pain, I once again woke with the same disturbing thoughts piercing my mind. In the muddy [...]

Lifting

Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Day 9 on Lexapro.
written 2 days later.
Rain hypnotizes me and makes me feel like magic.

This was the first day I woke and did not find myself in the midst of a constant panic attack. It was both amazing and foreign at the same time. What is more, I had almost slept [...]

Damn Heart

Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Day 8 on Lexapro.
9:54pm
Today my heart hurts. Emotionally and physically. Shards of something I thought was real pierce my bare feet, and I bleed. I thought I was more calloused than that. I thought I was tougher. I thought I could withstand this kind of pain and keep moving forward. Damn heart. [...]

Flashback: Sad.

I felt an overwhelming feeling of sadness…and frustration…and disappointment. The disappointment I felt was born of the fear that I had so sorely disappointed others and was less inspired by any disappointments that might have come my way…though I felt pain from those, too. These feelings weighed upon me and covered me like a heavy, [...]

Flashback: NYC

drawn by me, circa 1997-1998
I remember sitting at the edge of the fountain at Lincoln Center…people milling all around me. I remember wishing I was part of it…wishing I knew someone. Wishing I had a reason to be there…somewhere to go. But another part of me enjoyed being unto myself. At that time [...]