The Boy Between: A Mother and Son's Journey From a World Gone Grey

by Josiah Hartley

‘Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad.’ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I’ve learned that it’s okay to change direction – and that something that happens in a period of your life doesn’t have to, and should not, define the rest of your life.

‘Your normal is your normal’,

‘Existence is exhausting, you experience and process one moment in time and immediately there’s another one to be processed. It’s an endless, daunting, relentless cycle going on forever till we die.

This feeling of waiting to be exposed did nothing to help my mental state.

‘The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly.’ F. Scott Fitzgerald

‘One word frees us from all the weight and pain of life. That word is love.’ Sophocles

I had experienced loneliness before, but this was not about being lonely. It was about feeling alone,

‘The very worst kind of sadness is the kind that doesn’t have an explanation.’

‘I have been bent and broken, but – I hope – into a better shape.’ Charles Dickens

How often do we hear the phrase ‘Failure is not an option!’ but in my opinion failure should be an option.

I prefer the idea that it’s better to try and to fail than not to try at all. In the science community, ‘failing’ or ‘changing the plan’ is exactly how we learn what doesn’t work, taking us one step closer to discovering what does.

‘People who need help sometimes look a lot like people who do not need help.’