Jim Stitzel
Jack-of-All-Trades, Master of WordsExcerpts from Life
Sleep
I want to sleepAnd never wake up. Most days. Some days?A lot of days. I want peace. Of mind. Of body. Of spirit. Of every fucking thing. Which is — Unattainable. Unaccountable. Unachievable. At least for...
Unmasking Anxiety: Discovering and Learning to Manage the Disorders I Didn’t Know I Had
I have a cluster of mental illnesses — Major Depression, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, and Social Anxiety. It’s a real shit-show of issues, if I’m honest, and others who’ve been there can attest to that fact. It’s a common cluster of illnesses,...
Sitting Trataka
The candle flame dances before my eyes, moving to unseen but noticeable currents in the air. The room around me is dark, so the only light is from the candle before me. I am focused on that light, on that flame, and I sit with it in meditation. I can feel the energy...
Fiction
Stormy Weather
The wind howls outside my bedroom window. A tree branch, swaying in the wind, raps against the glass, tck tcking in an irregular rhythm. There are voices in that tempest, voices that I can just barely make out. They speak to me of times long past, of errors made and...
Critter
I have a sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach. That's where it lives. The critter, if you can call it that. It burrowed into my torso, and it took up residence there. All I can see of it is its mouth, sticking out of my abdomen, and it is insatiably hungry. I...
Crow
The crow talks to me. It sits on the road sign, with its black eyes, its black beak, and its black feathers, and it speaks to me. I don’t understand the words — they’re in bird, of course. But the words come, all the same. They take up space inside my mind,...