I’ve worn more masks than I can count—some sparkly, some stitched together from other people’s expectations. For years, I didn’t even know I was masking. I just knew I felt like an outsider in my own life.

When I discovered I was neurodivergent, everything clicked. But it wasn’t until I stumbled across Jungian psychology—and his idea of the Persona—that I truly began to understand the performance I’d been living. And why I’d been so drawn to people like David Bowie, who turned shifting identity into art.

This is a story about archetypes, unmasking, and finding yourself in the parts you were taught to hide.

Mental health doesn’t always come dressed in yoga pants with a smoothie in hand. Sometimes, it’s talking to yourself in a David Attenborough voice or rereading The Secret Garden for the 12th time. As a therapist (and chaos gremlin in recovery), I’ve learned to honour the small, peculiar rituals that keep me stitched together.

In this piece, I’m sharing 7 of my strangest daily habits—the kind that don’t look like wellness, but are. They’re messy, sensory, emotionally scruffy, and often involve playlists titled “Existential Laundry Folding.”

If you’ve ever felt like your coping mechanisms make no sense to others but feel like home to you… this one’s for you.