Ancient Egyptian painting of women dancing and playing instruments.

Perfume therapy

After reading Alyssa Harad’s Coming to My Senses, about her discovery of perfume, I was inspired to set forth my own approach toward arming oneself against the world with scent. I rank perfume up there with recorded music and books when it comes to tools for mental health.

An annoyed woman under dark stormclouds.

Chronic illness and “nice” people

I recently started thinking again about a phenomenon I first experienced at the nadir of my health woes 14 years ago, and several times since. I wondered briefly about it each time it happened, but was too beleaguered and distracted to dwell on it. To wit: on several occasions I developed noticeable symptoms over a ...