Some time back, I read Sybil, The Classic True Story of A Woman Possessed by Sixteen Personalities, by Flora Rheta Schreiber. It was fascinating, and horrific. And completely unforgettable.

“Do you know what it means to have a whole day ahead of you, a day you can call your own?”

Because Sybil would go to sleep on some days, and wake up a week later, two months later, years later, having missed large chunks of her life. And in between, a varied range of personalities took her place instead, living her life for her, and making her decisions for her.



Recent korean dramas have shown a penchant for playing with the theme of mental disorders. Kill Me, Heal Me (starring Ji Sung and Hwang Jung Eum) did the story of an individual with DID (i.e. Dissociative Identity Disorder, better known as Multiple Personality Disorder) just like Sybil, which made the drama a must-watch for me. I felt like it did a fairly good job representing the range of split personalities an individual with DID could possess -- and on top of that made it hilarious:

Ji Sung did a great job switching between his roles -- so funny. Oh Ri Jin's face everytime he complains about how he isn't pretty enough or needs plastic surgery, haha!

The one that I'm watching now, Hyde, Jekyll and Me, (starring Hyun Bin as a rich dude with DID) has the same premise but doesn't quite depict the disorder as faithfully. Although! The suffering that goes behind it is a lot more what one would expect with such an individual -- the pain of not being able to control the direction of your life, you know? And hating the parts of you so much that you wish you could kill them, but wouldn't that be suicide?

Because it's Hyun Bin though, this drama does feel more romance-centric (Hyun Bin looks better than he ever has, I think, hehe) and a lot more typically what I'd expect from a k-drama:

I've realised there isn't a point to this post (must my posts all have clear purposes? must they be point-y? hm.) -- but just saying I'm loving these stories. And I love it when I can make connections between the things I've read/watched/experienced.

Here's a short documentary clip about Sybil and real multiple personality disorders:

The song for me right now, I feel --

And in accordance -- I do also feel like I need a haircut!

Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is, where your book begins;
The rest is still unwritten

(Her songs are all so awesome, seriously. 

How could I have not appreciated her work before?)

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There are some things in life not going so great right now -- but oh man, I am really appreciating work life though. (I keep remembering what K said back in the past when things weren't so great for her and she was like, "At this age, just let me work lah. Thanks.")

I am making great friends with some of my colleagues. Work is not super wonderful or anything; some days, like seriously, I want to scream and roll my eyes and scream again -- my head feels like exploding while I stare at the crazy mess of a calendar that we have for our team -- but the fact that I then leave work and have a great dinner with them and we bitch about things, and talk about bigger things than work, it makes all the difference. It makes it worth it to come in the mornings, knowing that today, hey -- I've got to have her back. And some other days, when I feel like collapsing and making a fit -- we convene in a therapy room at 6PM, and share tears and hysterical laughter, and then at least feel: this crazy place that we work at, this crazy world that we live in, we're not alone.

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Selawat Mahabbah 

(whose meaning I've only started to internalise -- it's so wonderful, and it does encapsulate everything you'd need)

Oh Allah, selawat, salam and blessings upon Sayyidina Muhammad with the amount of Your Love for him.

And increase in us, Oh Allah, the love for him.

And relieve from us whatever that we are in, Ya Rabb,  with his love.

And provide us with unveilings, Ya Rabb, with his love.

 And provide us with resolute health against whatever that we face, Ya Rabb, with his love.

Love, love, love.

Sis and me rewatched the now-classic Legally Blonde movie.

I am not lying when I say it is inspiring me, in more ways than one, hehe.

I have decided I need endorphins to chase away blues.

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Also,

The goal of classical self-education is this: not merely to "stuff" facts into your head, but to understand them. Incorporate them into your mental framework. Reflect on their meaning for the internal life. The "external things" -- be they Platonic philosophy, the actions of an Austen heroine, or a political biography -- makes us more conscious of our own "reality and shape". This, not mere accumulation, is the goal of self-education. The journal is the place where this learning happens.

-- The Well-Educated Mind, Susan Wise Bauer

So many goals, too little time, limited self-discipline. But I will try hard, I will I will I will, insya Allah!

This was shared at one of our speech therapy inservices recently.

It filled my heart with fuzzies.