A Little Rain Must Fall © 2012 Jane Waterman
Mental health challenges

Winter Depression

You have to know that you’ve found a new addiction (of the awesome kind), when you finish a 30-day blogging challenge and want to write more! During November, the skies transformed to full grey, and it rained slowly and steadily all month. Outside, the trees form dark silhouettes against the

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Depression #2 © 2011 Jane Waterman
Living with invisible illness

Sjogren’s and UltraViolet, or How I Became a Vampire

Day 2 – Write about the weirdest thing about your health. When one’s health ‘goes wonky’, there’s lots of things that could no doubt be called weird. As someone who had trouble getting a diagnosis in the first place, I was used to the words ‘atypical’ and ‘undifferentiated’. Which I

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Contraction © 2012 Jane Waterman
Interior life

Dark Matter

Recently, I heard it described that depression is a liar. It deceives us into believing all hope and joy is sucked out of the moment in which we live. I don’t know if it’s a liar so much as a thief, sneaking in on little feet, gradually drawing all the

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The Fall of Winter © 2012 Jane Waterman
Interior life

The Fall of Winter

I seem to have my sleep cycles back to front at the moment, but to be honest, I’m just trying to get through the days. Today was a startling spring day in the Cowichan Valley. I say startling because when I came into the office in mid-morning, the light was

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Night Light © 2012 Jane Waterman
Interior life

Night Light

Yesterday went by in a bit of a blur. I lay down with the thought I hadn’t written yet. So far I’ve been able to get up and correct that, sometimes by waking up as is customary at some small hour of the night. But that didn’t happen. Rather than

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First Snow © 2012 Jane Waterman
Interior life

Outside, First Snow

Lately, I am happiest in those moments I spend outside. There is something about the chill air that shocks my system, pulls oxygen into my brain and makes me feel glad to be alive. There may be a scientific basis for this. At the moment, however, it’s an observation. It’s

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Last Light © 2012 Jane Waterman
Healing toolkit

Walking Meditation

I’ve long known intuitively that walking in nature heals me. I woke late after a morning nap today (on occasion, my body demands further rest after rising, and I’ve learned to listen). I decided to go into the back yard to clean up after our beagles. This is not a

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The Fall of Winter © 2012 Jane Waterman
Interior life

The Coming of the Sun

How quickly one forgets! That’s probably a merciful feature built into the human mind – a natural survival instinct – so one forgets how bad it can get. Three days ago spring announced itself in the Cowichan Valley with a clarion call of sunshine at 15 degrees Celsius. Sitting inside

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