The Auricle: Sunshine on a cloudy day

“It’s like there’s a cloud that comes over you and it just won’t leave”

It’s how Alex Bell’s girlfriend described his mental health struggles, and an idea he explores in this candid piece for The Auricle about silver linings, discovering the sun beyond the clouds, and how to find an umbrella when the storm clouds won’t clear.

Here’s an excerpt from the article:
““It’s like there’s a cloud that comes over you, and it just won’t leave.”

That’s the assessment my girlfriend once gave me of the periods where I’ve struggled with my mental health. From my perspective that analogy could not be more apt.

Times where I struggle with negative thoughts and emotions are like cloudy days. Of course, much like the overcast sky, these days don’t always look the same. On some days, there’s a smattering of light clouds: short periods of sadness or worry that quickly transform into blissful sunshine. Other days find only the occasional ray of short-lived sunshine poking through a heavily-veiled sky. Sometimes a morning shower can give way to a clear sky of blue, while on other occasions the bright sun of the morning can hide a lurking dreary afternoon. Very occasionally, the day is a storm: a thick band of dark, unrelenting grey that stretches as far as the eye can see. Sometimes, a storm will mark an aberration from an otherwise sunny week. Other times, I spend weeks wondering if the sky will ever be clear again…”

Read more: https://theauricle.org/2018/03/19/sunshine-on-a-cloudy-day/