I.
Five years ago, a friend of mine passed away. And I watched as the community we were a part of struggled to deal with the loss. I remember wanting to help those around me who were hurting, but also feeling helpless and overwhelmed and confused about what to do.
At the time, I had been endlessly tossing up in my head whether to change the trajectory of my life. I had a strange desire to start afresh and study psychology, but I’d spent years hiding away learning mathematics, at times separating myself from others almost completely. I wasn’t entirely convinced that I even knew how to hold a conversation. So did I really have any business trying to be an expert in ‘people stuff’?
I remember sleeping in late and staring at the roof and wondering what was actually worth getting up for anyway. To my surprise, an answer was right there. People were suffering, and I wanted to learn how to help.
So I got up. And my study of psychology began.
II.
I wanted to start this blog by honouring Nabil. In the short time that I knew him, he somehow got me to look up from my textbooks to laugh at his mischief and talk about nerdy shit and actually be present in the world.
I also wanted to ground myself in what matters before all the wild flights of thought to come. It’s too easy to push what we most value to the background, so I’ll put this here like a talisman.
The first real post will be about how to support someone who’s struggling.
After that, who knows what you’ll find.