Life stories

Hear directly from individuals about their highly personal journeys into meaning and self-understanding
Illustration of a smiling man with long hair, wearing a shirt, with a scenic background featuring buildings and people meditating.
Psyche Portrait
MEANING AND THE GOOD LIFE
2

‘We are all always coming and going’

Steve Schwartzberg’s journey from Harvard psychologist to erotic healer, Buddhist and teacher was always haunted by death. Then he was diagnosed with terminal cancer

by Andrew Lawler

Turning points

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Intricate mosque dome with blue tiles and floral motifs photo. Arabic calligraphy surrounds the base with arched windows.
VALUES AND BELIEFS
1

Mosque and state

In post-Soviet Azerbaijan, religion was a hot new commodity. I bought into it, too

by Ilkin Huseynli

A busy harbour at sunrise with fishing boats docked, people working on the shore and pink clouds in the sky.
NATURE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Living off a dying sea

I am the last in a long line of shark hunters. As the ocean fades, so too does our way of life

Julius Kaspar, as told to Bharath Thampi

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Warm sunlight casting shadows on a wooden chest and a door inside a dimly lit room.
VISIONS AND MYSTICISM

A haunting in Brooklyn

At 25, I saw my grandfather’s ghost. At 52, I think of what it may mean to be a ghost

by Kathleen Donohoe

Illustration of a smiling man with long hair, wearing a shirt, with a scenic background featuring buildings and people meditating.
MEANING AND THE GOOD LIFE
2

‘We are all always coming and going’

Steve Schwartzberg’s journey from Harvard psychologist to erotic healer, Buddhist and teacher was always haunted by death. Then he was diagnosed with terminal cancer

by Andrew Lawler

Close-up photo of a person’s hand holding a smartphone with a patterned fabric in the foreground, soft brown background.
TECHNOLOGY AND MEDIA
1

My chatbot therapist

Constant access, near-perfect memory, analytic reach – ChatGPT provides things a therapist never could

by Sabela Guravich

Rikers Island sign on a building with a speedboat on the river in the foreground.
FOOD AND DRINK

Loafing around at Rikers

What making – and breaking – bread in jail taught me about work and friendship

by J V

A road below a railway line with a brick wall and red garage doors, graffiti that reads ‘MICK DARNALDS NO PARKING’ behind a table with a can of coke on it and four red chairs.
PLEASURES AND PASTIMES
1

A psalm for lost spaces

You have to sit down somewhere, unhurried and unbothered, to really hear yourself. But where?

by Atar Hadari

A person in a library sitting on the floor reading a red book wearing a white knitted jumper.
COMPASSION AND EMPATHY

The empathy lie

In medicine, empathy came easy. In friendship, it fell apart. An autism diagnosis helped me understand why

by Zoë Read

Engraving of an elderly man sitting with a woman standing behind him, three figures raising arms in foreground, cityscape in background.
CAREGIVING
2

The hard art of comfort

Sick in a London hospital, I understood the Book of Job and his rage at all the miserable comforters

by Lisa Simone Kingstone

A person with a backpack resting on a log by a rocky riverbank with a group of people in the background.
RESILIENCE AND FLEXIBILITY

The art of hiking

The desert acted as a mirror that seemed to say: you are like me – harsh, inventive, and full of life

by Skye Anicca

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Warm sunlight casting shadows on a wooden chest and a door inside a dimly lit room.
VISIONS AND MYSTICISM

A haunting in Brooklyn

At 25, I saw my grandfather’s ghost. At 52, I think of what it may mean to be a ghost

by Kathleen Donohoe

Illustration of a smiling man with long hair, wearing a shirt, with a scenic background featuring buildings and people meditating.
MEANING AND THE GOOD LIFE
2

‘We are all always coming and going’

Steve Schwartzberg’s journey from Harvard psychologist to erotic healer, Buddhist and teacher was always haunted by death. Then he was diagnosed with terminal cancer

by Andrew Lawler

Close-up photo of a person’s hand holding a smartphone with a patterned fabric in the foreground, soft brown background.
TECHNOLOGY AND MEDIA
1

My chatbot therapist

Constant access, near-perfect memory, analytic reach – ChatGPT provides things a therapist never could

by Sabela Guravich

Black and white photo of two people in a subway station, one walking left, another dancing, station name Dundas West.
Psyche Exclusive
DANCE

Dancing in public is deeply vulnerable. Emma does it anyway

A film by Kelly O’Brien and Emma O’Brien

Engraving of an elderly man sitting with a woman standing behind him, three figures raising arms in foreground, cityscape in background.
CAREGIVING
2

The hard art of comfort

Sick in a London hospital, I understood the Book of Job and his rage at all the miserable comforters

by Lisa Simone Kingstone

Close-up photo of a person’s face in profile wearing glasses looking out of a window, with reflections in the lenses.
OCD

Sexual OCD doesn’t fit the stereotypes. That compounds the pain

Video by ABC Science

Blurry photo of a person in a pink top with a colourful bokeh background.
SEX AND SEXUALITY

The cage

In a heterosexual breakup, the script is clean: loss, anger, distance. Ours refused that narrative

by Margie Sarsfield

Abstract painting of hands on a table with a small dish vase and utensils in a stylised kitchen setting.
OCD

Adrift at sea, Nestor struggles to control the chaos within

Directed by João Gonzalez

Photo of a person’s closed eyes with colourful ribbons in red and yellow partially obscuring the face.
THE BODY AND PHYSICAL HEALTH

Painting myself back to life

I’d dealt with many illnesses. But when lupus left scars on my face, my suffering was suddenly visible

by Krystal Sital

Close-up photo of a woman in a beige top with hand on neck showing her back and shoulder against a light blue background.
DANCE

The relentless work behind the poise of a world-class dancer

Directed by Veronika Pokoptceva

Warm sunlight casting shadows on a wooden chest and a door inside a dimly lit room.
VISIONS AND MYSTICISM

A haunting in Brooklyn

At 25, I saw my grandfather’s ghost. At 52, I think of what it may mean to be a ghost

by Kathleen Donohoe

Painting of legs in blue socks and shoes overlaid on an open book page with text, laid on a wooden surface.
GENDER

What’s a girl to do about leg hair? A playful exploration

Directed by Andrea Dorfman

Photo of three people smiling indoors, seated with arms around each other, with decorative items in the background.
PARENTING AND FAMILIES

Thicker than blood

When polio left me unable to walk, my parents put me in a disability centre. There, I met Mommy

Sauda Bashir, as told to Kiprop Kimutai

Photo of a person with long hair and glasses driving a car gesturing to someone outside through an open window.
PERSONALITY

A no-nonsense New York driving instructor’s rules of the road

Directed by Charles Frank

A woman in an art studio examining a small object surrounded by paintings, plants and art supplies.
IDENTITY

The mudlark

After a lifetime of collecting artefacts from strangers’ lives, I’m finally ready to face my own past

by Marie-Louise Plum

Painting of a steam train with a red roof chugging along tracks at sunset with mountains and a moose in the background.
PAINTING AND SCULPTURE

An autistic artist searches for the ‘souls’ of machines

Directed by Leonard Kamerling

Vintage photo of four people posing indoors with a plant and brick wall background.
THE BODY AND PHYSICAL HEALTH

The family cancer

My brother and mother died of their disease way too young. I’ve been on standby for 45 years

Michele Jacob, as told to Larry Lindner

Drawing of a child leaning on a table beside a fishbowl with a red fish inside. The background is plain and neutral.
IDENTITY

An animator’s bittersweet ode to her ‘third culture’ childhood

Directed by Diana Cam Van Nguyen

Collage of vintage photos featuring people in various settings on a wooden surface.
RACE AND ETHNICITY
7

My life as an alien

I know the cost of being misread – first as too Black, then as too white, and never as just myself

by Pamela Swanigan