Be gentle with yourself today.

Before I begin this post I want to apologise for going quiet on the awareness month topics. I had planned to stay consistent, but my health with sickle cell took more out of me than expected and I needed time to rest and reset. I also took a moment to celebrate my birthday on the 31st of January which felt important after everything. Thank you for the patience and understanding.

From next week I will be back posting properly, including a piece for Black History Month and mentions of International Prenatal Infection Prevention Month throughout February.

Now onto why I am writing today.

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Some days are heavier than others

There are days where you wake up and nothing specific has happened, yet everything feels loud inside your mind. Memories sit closer to the surface. Old pain feels fresh. Your thoughts walk you back into places you thought you had already left behind. Trauma has a way of doing that. It does not always announce itself. Sometimes it simply arrives and sits with you.

Today is one of those days for me.

I have learned a lot about coping over the years, especially during a time in my life when I was sectioned. At the time it felt frightening and confusing, but looking back it truly helped me. I was taught how to ground myself, how to slow my thoughts, how to recognise spirals before they swallowed me whole. Those tools are the reason I can sit and write this now instead of disappearing into the feeling.

But learning how to cope does not mean the hard days stop.

I still have days where I cry for no clear reason. Days where everything feels heavier than it should. Days where my mind insists on replaying things I cannot change. Healing did not remove those moments. It simply taught me how to survive them.

And that matters.

Healing is not linear. It does not move neatly forward. Sometimes it feels like two steps ahead and five steps back. That does not erase the progress you have made. It just means you are human and your mind is still processing what it has lived through.

So on the heavy days give yourself permission.

Cry if you need to Sit quietly if you need to Be angry if you need to

None of it means you have failed.

What matters is that after the moment passes, even slowly, even reluctantly, you stand back up again. Not perfectly. Not confidently. Just enough to keep moving.

You are still here. That is not small.

There is still purpose in your presence, even when you cannot feel it.

Be gentle with yourself today. Then tomorrow, try again.

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You can find me and my work across different platforms! Follow along on Instagram @Chronic_junk_, join the community on Facebook at Chronic Junk, visit my website at ChronicJunk.com, catch behind-the-scenes and creative fun on TikTok @chronic.junk, and don’t forget to keep up with new posts right here on the blog 👉 chronicjunk.blog. Let’s spread awareness and ate resilience together! 🌍✨