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How depression feels for me

Here’s a post I never thought I would be writing.I’m going to be completely level with you. I don’t think I have ever been this depressed in my entire life. It’s been months now, I barely sleep, at least once a week I only manage a few hours, and I average about 6 hours max. When I’m laughing it feels empty and often there is an undertone of just wanting to cry and fall apart forced down underneath it. I’ve tried most things, meditation, yoga, changing my diet, and gratitude lists.I�...

My packing list for the Camino de Santiago

When you carry everything you need on your back for a month it becomes pretty apparent rather quickly what items you do or don’t need.Based on a recommendation I found online I made sure my pack weighed no more than 10% of my body weight. For me, that was 7kg including water, and more-or-less had everything I needed.It’s also worth pointing out that I am a male of small/average build in my 30s and began the French Camino in early September. Obviously, this list doesn’t apply to all body sh...

The Camino de Santiago (Video & blog) – What I gained from the experience

Like many experiences of this nature, it’s hard to put into words the values of completing the Camino de Santiago. I have articulated myself as best I can, with the intention of not creating a false expectation to the reader of what they should expect from their own experience should they give it a go themselves.I had originally planned to start on the 2nd of September 2019 however, due to airline strikes, I had to push it back a day. Not only that, but I had to change my destination due to fl...

Review: How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan

In How to Change Your Mind, Michael Pollan deep dives into the world of psychedelics and psychedelic-assisted therapies. He covers everything from their rise and fall in the pharmaceutical industry, the undercover CIA LSD experimentations within MK-Ultra, the hard science, their use in silicon valley, and his own personal experiences amongst other topics.“There are three things human beings are afraid of death, other people, and their own minds.” ― Michael PollanWithout glamorizing or over...

Review: Lost Connection by Johann Hari

My most common response when someone asks me what I’m reading lately has been “It’s amazing, I highly recommend you grab a copy”. Lost Connections is no exception.The Author, Johann Hari, is a journalist who was desperate to better understand his mental health, having been placed on anti-depressants at a young age and finding they provided no real benefit. I enjoy reading books by journalists as they are less attached to a theory than a professional in the industry. Their reputation does...

Ayahuasca – A reflection, one year later

I’d been fascinated by plant medicines for at least five years. A fascination which began after listening to a podcast with Graham Hancock in which he discussed the role he believed they played in ancient civilizations. It wasn’t until November 2018 however, that I felt the time was right to experience them personally. I wasn’t (and still am not really) an avid user of narcotics in any form. In fact, my first experience with psychedelics was only one year earlier, with LSD. An experience t...

Tapping into Ancient Egypt

Before I dive into my gritty Egyptian adventure it’s important to bring it back to where my love of Egypt began because this had been a trip in the making for a long time. Decades in fact. Last year I was looking back through my school exercise books. I was surprised to see the number of pyramids I’d drawn in them. Back in intermediate (I was about 12 years old) we had to do a speech on a topic of our choosing. I did mine on ancient Egypt, and it was a hit, it even got me into the school fin...

Men Cry

Today I was told that this week is Men’s Health Week. I had no idea, probably because I have been actively avoiding social media for the past week or so, fittingly, for my own mental health. I’d like to say that during this time away from social I found lasting relief, unfortunately, that’s not the case. Though one thing is for sure, stepping away helped to reduce some of the noise and grounded me a great deal. Its easy to get caught up in everything and after all, we were never programmed...

The Hero's Journey & Joseph Campbell

I picked this up off the back of a podcast I watched recently on the art of storytelling. I’ve had a fascination with Joseph Campbell for a long time, probably since I first read The Alchemist. He’s best known for his quote “Follow your bliss” which has remained as the background on my phone ever since I heard it many years ago.“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.”” – Joseph CampbellThe Hero with a Thousand Faces is his most wel...

First post

In all honesty the idea of starting a blog came to me in a dream about six months ago. I don’t remember the exact situation but I was with a group of famous individuals, but for some reason all the focus was on me, someone said to me “I love your website”, and I remember in the dream being really confused because I didn’t have one. That thought has stuck with me to the point where I decided I may as well make one, what have I got to loose.Writing a blog seems pretty ridiculous when I thi...