In an attempt to alleviate my health anxiety I have started talking to rocks. Talking to Rocks acts as a record of my recent visits to the doctor, after four years of being fixated on one part of my body, convincing myself there is something seriously wrong. During these visits, I focused on the moments spent in the waiting room. I used the notes app on my phone to list what I could see, hear, and feel during the seemingly interminable wait for my name to be called. This gave my mind a distraction from my spiralling thoughts. After reading about superstitions within Irish folklore, I started to notice the habits I already practise. In my head, these habits prevent bad things from happening, such as house fires or encounters with spiders – my own superstitions. Whilst the doctor prescribes me medicine for my physical symptoms, I prescribe myself rituals for my mental health. These rituals include telling rocks my secrets to unburden myself of some of my biggest fears and rubbing half a potato over the area of concern before burying it, hoping that the problem would rot with the potato. In challenging my dark, anxious thoughts and feelings with elements of the surreal and humorous, I have started to find more moments of calm.
