The “Living with…” Series
A series of accounts from those living with challenges, primarily involving mental health, which will afford the reader an opportunity to ‘walk in the shoes’ of amazingly tenacious individuals, allowing the reader to grow their knowledge, so reducing stigma and helping to find understanding. 
An Author a Day!
In waging the battle, along with so many others, against the stigma experienced by those who are without knowledge of that which they are unable to comprehend, I decided to try and enlist the help of those who are living these challenges; to bravely share their story, so other may at least begin to understand.
Compassion
Accept the hand of compassion, whether a person living with challenge, or a person who can begin to understand… It takes compassion from those who are at times discriminated against to want to share with those who cannot know
better, unless provided the opportunity.
For others, there but for the grace…
It also creates opportunities for compassion to be found, rather than sympathy, by the people who have been without opportunity or means to understand.
The Method
My objective is to make available, a chosen topic within mental and or physical illness – for a week. One unique author, each day of that week, will provide the reader with expert knowledge of their life and the challenges and successes associated with that life.
The readers privilege will be to spend just a couple of moments reading each day’s author – so that they can ‘know’ just a bit more about what the topic really can mean. I believe it may then be possible, with this new knowledge, to consider any preconceived notions and judgements when the opportunity arises again.
Spend just a couple of minutes each day to grow your understanding of what those living around us are challenged with, so the reader can make informed choices about what it is to live with illness, and decide how they want to view those individuals. Think of it as a blog para-olympics if you like, they inspired you, didn’t they?
Are you willing to share your experience?
Many topics are still to be completed. Write and let me know.
Bob Brotchie is a counsellor, mindset consultant and creator of "Conscious Living by Design"™. He writes for Anglia Counselling, is featured on various other websites and introduces us to many guest writers all covering topics related to mental health and wellbeing.
Bob provides bespoke counselling services to individuals and couples in the privacy and comfort of a truly welcoming environment at his Anglia Counselling company office, located near Newmarket in Suffolk, England. Bob also provides professional online counselling, for local, national, and international clients. The therapeutic models offered are bespoke to the client’s needs, especially those in receipt of 'childhood emotional neglect' (CEN), whilst integrating a mindful approach to psychotherapy and cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) principles. For clients experiencing trauma and/or phobia, Bob offers EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing).
I saw Bob’s invitation on Twitter. He invited us all to tell others about something important to us. I accepted his invitation and got to know a little of quite a remarkable man during email exchanges about the piece I was writing. He’s not ‘my’ therapist. He and I are separated by several counties interspersed between us. I am seeing another therapist relatively local to me.
He’s accepted my piece. That’s great, but the value of the piece to me was the writing of it. I hope, when it drops onto your electronic doormat as part of his schedule, that you find it of some value, too.
Only Bob knows how many folk have accepted his invitation. I hope there are loads and loads, just because of what happened for me when I wrote mine. I understood more of the issues that I have created to imprison myself in my manufactured world of pain. One day I will be able to leave the door to it open.
So please join me. Let’s discover together the value of writing, however well, however haltingly, and let’s learn more about each other by reading other people’s pieces.
Thanks for your candour and support, Tim. It IS individuals such as you and other contributors who are bit-by-bit raising levels of education and awareness.