Author Kuukua Yomekpe reflections

Wednesday’s Child is Full of Woe (NMH Awareness Month)

I have been a person with mood swings since I was a teenager. My journals from as far back as 15 log this. However, I thought of these swings as just who I was. I chucked it up to being the Wednesday's Child "full of woe." Since moving to the U.S. and being in activist … Continue reading Wednesday’s Child is Full of Woe (NMH Awareness Month)

Author Kuukua Yomekpe creative non-fiction, Love, reflections, Sexuality, stories, writing prompt

On the Business of Choosing Dears

It started when she claimed me as her Dear from among the entire first year class. I was excited. Her reputation preceded her. I knew who she was because all the lower formers had been talking about Sister Avery. She was tall, standing at 6'2'' a head and half taller than most of her classmates, and weighed in … Continue reading On the Business of Choosing Dears

Author Kuukua Yomekpe bipolar, doctors, doctors, medication, Mental Dis-Ease, reflections

Leaving the Seclusion Room: A Journey to the Far Side of Sanity and Back Again

May is National Mental Health Awareness Month y’all. Help stop the stigma!

Kathryn M. McCullough's avatarKathryn M. McCullough

I will forever associate spring with an up-close-and-personal encounter with crazy, with losing my mind in an over-the-top kind of way.   And, indeed, my March Madness of 1990 ended life as I knew it.

Spring brings many forms of madness. Spring brings many forms of madness.

A university writing instructor, I was suffering through what should have been a relaxing spring break, when I began to crumble. In Oklahoma the branches were barely budding, when I started obsessing over trees and their ability to lead me elsewhere, wherever there was. I imagined it was a dimension parallel to the world around me.

A parallel place-- A parallel place–

I wanted desperately to go there, and it was that longing that ached me into action. It muscled me forward, compelling me to bring bare branches indoors and decorate my walls with them. (I kid you not.)  It seemed I was suddenly and acutely aware, as the sculptural quality of those limbs stunned and…

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Author Kuukua Yomekpe Interviews, Mental Dis-Ease, reflections, writing prompt, Writing prompts

Being A Writer with a Mental Illness

About a week ago I got a surprise email from Lisa asking me to participate in a blog meme. I love Lisa's blog, and I love Lisa. We met in June 2010 at both our first VONAs, and have remained friends since. I love her art and her writing and her sewing and and. Lisa is talented in a … Continue reading Being A Writer with a Mental Illness