#personal-experiences

#personal-experiences

Groups can feel overwhelming due to the complexity of managing multiple people's emotions and interactions, requiring significant emotional and mental effort from individuals.

"It's like a chess board," Paul O'Sullivan explains, as we sit outside the former Bessborough Mother and Baby Home, where his mother had spent several days in the lead-up to his birth.

Shame I had to leave the job I loved, but better that than working for dickheads. If they're not interested in you, it is not worth trying to change them from within.

Navigating Father’s Day when your dad is absent due to choice is an emotional challenge, as it brings up feelings of abandonment and disconnection for many.

At the start of the year, a friend asked artificial intelligence how to console his 10-year-old on the death of a pet. I thought this was the most ridiculous thing ever, given that ChatGPT didn't know the pet, or the 10-year-old. And surely the reason a pet's death occasions such unique grief is that pets are unique, and therefore cannot be imagined by a machine.

Akil expresses that human behavior is a compelling narrative resource, needing close observation to translate experiences into stories, which she has honed throughout her career.

I had a growing feeling that I really didn't want to give this new America our money, said Jenny, a 54-year-old former librarian from Northamptonshire.

Every writer encounters moments when creative ideas seem to vanish, but learning to nurture ideas makes the creative process more fruitful and enjoyable.

"Dating around. I was with the same man from age 16 to 24, and we got engaged while I was in college. People were like, 'You don't want to play the field? You don't want to see what other people are like? You don't want to experiment or explore?' I didn't at all."

I never really felt 'sexy' before. While I certainly had frequent sex with my past partner, he would tell me on other occasions that I was bad at it...

I could feel a panic attack settling in; I was being stared at by a dozen sets of pleading eyes wanting me to fix a giant lump of dead-in-the-water kit.

Data suggests we should have increased concerns about mindfulness interventions, whether they're with adults or children. Obviously the risks are greater with intensive retreats, but courses are still a cause for concern.

I personally was a total scaredy cat, and I still remember watching The Sixth Sense at a friend's house with a knitted hat pulled down over my eyes for the entire movie.

Menopause is a process undergone by half the population, and yet, so many people know so little about it.

Ronda Rousey recounted how Justin Bieber was rude to her sister at Cannes, which left her devastated and unwilling to support him as a fan anymore.

"This one may seem minor, but not getting enjoyment out of mutual activities. My first husband was always willing to do anything I wanted, for example, go to concerts of bands that I liked. But he never enjoyed himself."

"I saw a news report done in the early 2000s. They conducted an experiment where they had both male and female models walk down the street and drop a stack of papers. People fell all over themselves trying to help them. They then repeated the exercise with more ordinary-looking men and women, and no one bothered to assist them when they dropped the stack of papers."

In the beginning, you hear so many awful stories. People you know who have lost family members, friends. Those who have lost their homes. Places that are no longer there.

"There is nothing shameful about wanting to look your best. Many women (and men) who can afford it avail themselves of cosmetic surgery."