little box
My life is like being in a box
that’s to small, way too small
I want to get out desperately
but I can’t find an opening
and I can only hold my breath for so long
No!
there seems to be no one around for me
I can see, I can touch inside my little box
but I can’t communicate with anyone
I’m all alone even though people are nearby me
Isolated!
the way it’s always been for me
and feel like it will always be
I can scream all I want
but no one will hear or ever be there for me
So I just let myself cry and curl up tight
no one will care or ask why
the tears will hurt as they run down my face
I can see someone’s hands reaching for mine
but my arms are too short to grasp hold
I want help yet I find that everyone has disappeared
also love, love I’ll never discover inside this box
within this little box I have put myself in
maybe some day a person will come along to aid
who will free me from this little box, maybe someday
SEG

*This poem was written in Rumford, Maine. I was 17 years old. I believe it was these writings that allowed me to receive a small scholarship during awards night the year I graduated.



It is disappointing that more people don’t embrace what an amazing life we have been given. I want to live in the now. I am training myself to be present. I won’t lie. It is excruciating. I am trying to discover myself in this new world that has opened up to me and it is quizzical. I am enjoying most of my discoveries even through my confusion. I just don’t want this new world full of half living individuals to destroy me. I am discouraged today. I am working again. It is a challenge. I am grateful that I am able. I feel I have so much to offer. I am running into closed doors and tall unbreakable walls. This is all still so fresh to me. I am processing. I want to be a better person. A whole one. I am having emotions I don’t necessarily have experience with because the depression numbed me. I think, I didn’t know all the emotions I could feel. I have had to redefine my emotional language. What I mean by that is my knowledge of the definitions of feelings was strong. I believed I was in touch and self aware. However, my first hand experience was damaged by my mental illness. I feel with Ketamine I am distinguishing the differences. I will give you an example. As I have stated I have lost many things because of my depression. Friends have passed away. Disappointments, massive ones, have occurred and my depression deepened. I did not grieve. I thought the depression was evidence that I was going through the stages of loss. I have recently realized I was crying when I thought I saw a friend that passed away almost three years ago. It startled me. What was going on? What were the tears about? It had only been a few days since my Ketamine shot. I was perplexed and afraid. Was the depression resurfacing during the period between treatments? I think feeling any sadness at all has been my deepest concern. I question with fear. It was only after months of treatment that I realized everyone gets sad. Grief isn’t clinical depression. Having a day of tears doesn’t equate to a lifetime of spiraling depression or hospitalizations. I have to constantly remind myself. I try every day to use the correct terms to express myself. I feel this is an valuable asset for my recovery. It is definitely a frustrating component. It is also the way in which I have grown most over the past year. I am still a work in progress just like this website…