peter
“Spending some time in a hostel in my early 20’s after falling out with my parents and becoming homeless was one of the most difficult times in my life. I found myself in some really messed up situations by making bad choices and hanging out with the wrong people, and I knew something needed to change. I was wild and couldn’t live my life like this anymore… Losing loved ones through drugs and alcohol abuse should’ve given me the wake-up call I needed, but it didn’t. I reached the scariest time in my life when I was in a toxic relationship for almost 2 years while living in the UK. I suffered a lot of mental and physical abuse, and I remember crying to a family member asking when it’s gonna stop, but I didn’t know how to get away… I thought about suicide sometimes; I felt like there had to be a nicer place called heaven, right? Or so we’re told… When I finally got away and drove home on the boat with all my stuff I just felt free. That was about 3 years ago now. I came home to Dublin and went to college to do fashion design, and finally started to live my life again. My friends and family helped me through it and I’m blessed to have such amazing people around me. From that moment, I decided to take a different path and look after myself. It was like the penny dropped, and something inside my brain just switched on. I stopped partying and went on my first ever Buddhist retreat. I started bringing those teachings into my life and slowly things just got better. I changed my appearance, I changed my circle of people, and I was happy. I worked on my inner self, my health and well-being, and most importantly, my mental health. I know now who I am and what I want out of life. I don’t have everything I want, but I most certainly have everything I need… Taking it one day at a time!”
T-shirt: “I navigate the maze between misery and joy” by Paul Timoney