Thread.

It’s important to honour your deepest, truest self.

Not doing so can make you unwell, as I discovered twenty years ago at the age of 30.

Jung asked, “What did you do as a child that made the hours pass like minutes? Herein lies the key to your earthly pursuits.”

(1)

We often discard the activities of childhood in order to play the “game” of adulthood: get a job, find a partner, chase the money, gain status.

I’m a creative. I wrote music and poetry, acted in plays, and hung out in creative circles until the age of about 24.

(2)

I then stopped these activities in the interests of playing the game I’ve described above.

I moved cities and focused on unhelpful things.

The result? A sudden breakdown, a nervous collapse, panic attacks, obsessive ruminations at the age of 30.

I was very ill.

(3)

It took a number of years to discern exactly what was going on, but I resumed my creative life in my mid 30s and never looked back.

I’m now 50 and unapologetically myself.

If you deny yourself the things you value, you suffer.

It really is that simple.

And that complex.

(4)