My intention in writing this blog is to help other people by sharing some of my own experiences and learning.

If you are experiencing work-related stress or anxiety and you believe everyone else is coping better than you, you may feel isolated. Hopefully this blog will show you are not alone. As more people share their experiences, I hope it will also make conversations about mental wellbeing more common-place and reduce some of the stigma around mental health that people still experience.

I have been interested in psychology for a long time, since starting my psychology degree studies. My own experiences of work-related stress have led me to find out more and learning about psychological theories has helped me make sense of my emotions. I have also learnt practical techniques, which enable me to recognise and manage my stress and anxiety more effectively. I hope you may also find at least some of what I have learned useful.

I have chosen the title “Seeing life’s tapestry” for my blog. As I write and clarify my thoughts, I discover new insights and connections within and between different blog posts. My expectation at the start was that these threads would start to weave together, revealing a form or structure, like a tapestry of different scenes.

A structure has indeed started to emerge and to help you navigate my blog, I have grouped posts into three themes or “categories”:

• Managing anxiety and stress
• Managing mood and energy
• Finding fulfilment

While some posts could sit in more than one category, for simplicity, I have allocated each post to a primary category. To visit each category page, you can click on the category links in the right-hand sidebar or use the blog menu at the top of each page.           

I have also included a “tag cloud” in the right-hand sidebar. Like a book index, this can help you explore the most common topics or “tags”. For example, to read my poems, click on the “poetry” link in the tag cloud.