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What does depression (and anxiety) look like?
Most commercials for antidepressants show people in despair, lying on a couch crying or dressed in baggy clothing with unkempt hair. Is that what depression looks like? Yes. Sometimes. But often, depression can look like a person who has their shit together. A career woman who gets things done. A soccer mom with perfect hair and perfect kids. A lawyer. A doctor. A musician. An artist. A movie star. A writer. Me. Anxiety medication ads often depict a person having a panic attack, complete with hyperventilating, rapid heartbeat and sweating. So that’s what anxiety looks like, right? Sure. Sometimes. It also can look like standoffishness. Indifference. Disengagement. Irritability. Forgetfulness. Me.
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A Walk In The Rain
“A Walk In The Rain” Free Verse Poetry, August 2016/March 2017 She went for a walk in the rain With barely enough light to see The mist baptizing her favorite path. She couldn’t escape the pain Without causing much more So she retreated to her abandoned door. Once inside, the walls entombed her And trapped her as they moved, Revealing the family she’d left behind. Trapped within the rose-printed wallpaper, She stood in silent perfection In thorns that drew no blood. She went for a walk in the rain To clear her overwhelmed mind From burdens drowning in her wrath. She dropped to her knees and prayed For forgiveness and…
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All I know about my dad
My dad, Douglas Wayne Easterling, was born on January 23, 1953, the youngest of four children and the third boy for Howard and Pearl Easterling of Glen Rose, Arkansas. He would have been 64 this month (in 2017). I am writing this post strictly from my own recollection of events and stories I’ve been told. Because of this, everything contained in this post may not be entirely accurate. (Note: I have worked on this post on and off for the past four weeks in preparation for posting today because I knew it would be emotionally draining and would take some time to write.) Dad died of brain cancer on July…
