The Man Made of Smoke

by Alex North

It is interesting to note how an event that becomes formative for a patient might appear utterly inconsequential to an observer. We can never know the importance of our actions, however small and innocent they might seem. An interaction that, for us, is gone in a heartbeat might be something that another person finds impossible to forget.

We are shaped by our pasts, not defined by them.

emotions could be dangerous, and that it was safer to keep the world at arm’s length.

But sometimes … things are just fucking shit.”

But understanding my emotions didn’t make them go away.