This is so brave, honest and raw. Thank you. I love the way you carry us through your journey so honestly. You don’t just talk about the struggles—you let us feel them alongside you. That line, “I thought of leaving, breaking each chain, of walking away from all joy and pain,” stopped me in my tracks—it captures that raw push-pull so well. And then you hold on to life with, “Still I clung to the fragments I could perceive,” which gave me a real sense of resilience running through your words. What really stayed with me too was when you said, “This will not define me, it will make me. I will use it to change the world.” That’s such a fierce and tender truth.

I so understand that moving between numbing and growth—not a tidy hero’s journey, but the messy, exhausting work recovery actually is. I loved the way you spoke about breathwork reaching places words couldn’t. It’s something I haven’t tried, but you’ve inspired me to have a go.

Thank you again for your honesty and courage. I write therapeutic metaphor stories (the Little Girl and the Gardener) around some of these same themes, and reading your piece reminded me why I write them.