NatashaElizabethpatty

  Making decisions isn't always easy. Sometimes the hardest part isn't choosing between two options—it's trusting yourself after you've made the choice. In this second article of The Life I'm Learning to Trust series, we follow Ethan as he learns one of life's most valuable lessons: how to trust his own decisions . Why Is It So Hard to Trust Your Decisions? Ethan wasn't always confident in himself. Growing up in an orphanage, he learned to survive by adapting to others. Later, after discovering his biological family, his life changed completely. Instead of feeling secure, he found himself questioning every choice he made. He constantly searched for validation from other people. From his late teenage years onward, Ethan believed that one wrong decision could destroy everything . Because of that fear, he hesitated before making even the smallest choices, worrying that every mistake would lead to regret. If you've ever felt the same way, you're not alo...

  Is mental illness a creative superpower—or simply a reality many writers live with? The “tortured artist” myth might sound poetic, but it’s more harmful than helpful. I live with paranoid schizophrenia, and while it shapes my stories, it doesn’t define them. And no, I don’t create because I suffer—I create despite it. In my last article, I explored what it's like to write through brain fog as someone living with mental illness. This time, I want to dig deeper—not into the pain itself, but how living with paranoid schizophrenia has influenced the way I create stories, characters, and emotional truth. Breaking the “Tortured Artist” Myth For years, I believed that pain was necessary for powerful writing. High school me thought suffering was a rite of passage for poets and storytellers. But the truth is: romanticizing pain is dangerous. It leads people to believe they have to stay broken to stay creative. Worse, it can make them afraid to heal, fearing recovery will take away the...