Writing & Poetry

When talking about mental health, it can be very easy to only focus on the negatives. Yes, that can be a huge factor when it comes to having discussions about mental health, but it is important to put it all out there. One thing that I remember coming across, was seeing the phrase “your story […]

Zoe MacKenzie (DJ Zodownlo) and her co-collaborators will showcase the music they made during the unprecedented UK wide lockdown experience we all lived through earlier this year. They will also discuss how making and performing music sustains their beings and helps gird their mental health against the uncertainty of the times we are living in. […]

“What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor, and more unashamed conversation” – Glenn Close

My name is Gary Inglis. I am a second year Community Education student and Dundee University and over the next few weeks I will be sharing my thoughts on a range of topics and issues as part of my 3 month long placement with Front Lounge. Lockdown has been one of the most challenging times […]

This week we have been focused on packing up and delivering Hope Box to Fife – 150 boxes were given out! Every step of this process has been amazing, from carefully packing each box to handing them out to everyone. I lived in Kirkcaldy my entire life before moving to Dundee last year – being […]

It is so hard to imagine light when it has been dark for so long. What will the skies look like when the storm has finally passed? Who really remembers what it was like to feel free and careless and bouncing under the sun and being met with unbegrudging look of peers? It feels like […]

COVID-19 has really ruined my 2020. I feel so helpless and feel as if I’ve wasted the last few months doing absolutely nothing. It’s crazy what being stuck in the house can really do to you. I nearly took a bus into town just to have a walk about. Going to Asda, B&M and Home […]

– The good days, the bad days and everything in between the comforting cup of tea while anxiously relaxing on the settee – It is hard to comprehend the situation at hand two feet grounded on the floor I pause breathe but I still cannot understand – Day in, day out, it all feels the […]

How do we define hope? Most of us don’t know but the ones who know, don’t know how to find it, some will deny it, even hide it, claiming life is merely coincidental not influential. The idea becomes so subjective, but still its everyones objective, it’s an obsession yet an international suppression causing depression. Hope […]

It’s mental health awareness week and I thought I’d pitch in. We have watched the world react to a viral pandemic, some communities and countries are doing much better than others but everywhere has had to do something to stop the spread of disease. It happened so quickly and so much awareness was brought to […]

We can hide many things That people believe to be true But how many of those people Know the real you? — x — You hide behind a mask Because life is hard to grasp But how long do you think That can really last — x — Let down your guard And take a […]

Writing about walking in my last post has got me thinking a whole lot about it and my favourite walks which I’ll cover in depth over time but today I was just thinking… I miss the sea. Every time I go home the first thing on my list is to put on my trainers and […]

Like struggling for air at the bottom of the sea… Like not being able to see your own hands you know so well for the mist shrouding your own mind. Clouds of consciousness swirl their way across your eyes, half memories mixed with a sense of sorrow yet joy. Thank God I can remember you; […]

We call that HopeYou see that glimmerWe call that hopeSo please stop and thinkLet go of the rope It’s hard todayMaybe even tomorrowBut it will get betterWe can take it slowly This is a bad dayBut not a bad lifeIt will get betterDig deep and fight Hold on to hopeIt will see you throughEven on […]

Stay Home, Stay SafeAt the moment we feelLike we are stuck at homeWhen in realityWe are actually safe We don’t find it easyFeel out of controlMessed up routinesAnd daily unknowns But why don’t we take a minuteTo appreciate what we haveBecause others are missing outAnd it is making them sad Out frontline workersFind it hard, […]

We are a few weeks into lockdown at the time of writing this. I think. I have lost track of time. Living in isolation like this is not so unusual to me, with having spent so many years of my life with chronic mental and physical illness I have spent a lot of time on […]

Covid-19 has affected me in many ways. When I first herd of the coronavirus I thought it wasn’t as serious and I thought everyone was just over reacting and it would be over just as quickly as it started with no effects. I was wrong. When all the panic buying hit its peak, I started […]

We are living through a moment in history, a moment that will be taught to generations, in schools and universities, we will learn a huge amount from this pandemic, invaluable information that only a crisis can teach us. It’s important to remember that this is just a moment, a moment that will pass. Living with […]

So much uncertaintyAnd lack of controlNo clear way forwardWe fear the unknown Stuck with a virusThey call Covid-19It brings many lessonsEven how to keep clean But don’t be disheartenedOr live in despairWe will get through thisSometime and somewhere Separated by distanceThe heart longs for moreI can’t wait for the dayI can show up at your […]