Photo taken by first-time contributor Annali, a 49-year-old mother and teacher from Massachusetts who has struggled throughout her life with depression, suicidal thoughts, and anxiety. In her twenties, she was diagnosed with PTSD, and for the past four years she has been struggling with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. Since the beginning of her temporal lobe seizures, she has been taking photos as a way of journeying back to her own personal center and truth, both of which have been shattered over and over again by mental and physical challenges as well as life events.
About this photo: “The photo was taken in Venice, Italy, in the church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli. It is minimally edited and tries to express the overwhelming struggle and effort needed to get oneself out of the darkness and reaching out towards light, hope, and new life: the miracle of becoming whole.”
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wonderful photo! I relate very much to your struggles as I have MDD, GAD and PTSD also. (and love photography!)
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This post reminds me of some of the work I’ve done teaching photography classes to folks with traumatic brain injuries. It’s great to hear that Annali is using this awesome medium to find out about herself. Great minimalist photo here too, by the way. 🙂
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thank you The Twilt Lens. It must have been very interesting to teach photography to people with traumatic injuries. Thanks again for your feed back.
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Thank you Paula, it is so nice to connect with other people who can relate to our struggles and who use photography as a way to express themselves.
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I love this photograph, and truly relate to it. As for me too, not sure if its early or late. But have somehow gathered teh courage to do what i wanted. Have being into depression for years and years. Hope some day will be my day of light. And i can be just be smiling from within just like was as before .. For people like us, teh struggle between darkness and light is always there.
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I am so glad you like the photo Lazy Eye! You are so right…. the struggle between light and darkness is and probably will always be there.
Personally, I am learning, just now how to take tiny steps towards light whenever I feel myself slipping down into darkness. Once one knows how bleak the darkness can be, one never wants to go there again.
And maybe wholeness in the end will be a balance between light and darkness? Like the Yin and Yang?
take care
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True ..I never had teh courage to speak to anyone . Just be quiet for years and years. For me small gestures to speak or even send message like thiis, is my tiny steps.. Hope prevails .. Thank you for this community for helping people like us
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Tiny steps is all we can do Lazy Eye! And you are doing it!! One of my favorite saying is: a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step! May hope always prevail. Thank you for writing! -Annali
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