List: Essays and Articles | Curated by Finbar Shields

Jan 30, 2025
36 stories
Essays and Articles
Finbar Shields
In our creating and sharing we often cut short —Far too close the need for validation has become, far too readily available from Facebook dings of likes that spike our dopamine — so…
Jan 30
Jan 30
Finbar Shields
Health Update: I Have Lyme DiseaseAs some of you who know me will have heard, I have Lyme disease.
Oct 19, 2024
3
Oct 19, 2024
3
Finbar Shields
Being Who You Are Is WEIRDBeing who you are, being alive, is fucking WEIRD.
Oct 8, 2024
Oct 8, 2024
Finbar Shields
A Letter for Children Like Me: My Beautiful, Awful Relationship With ScreensI wish growing up I had been on screens less.
Dec 3, 2023
2
Dec 3, 2023
2
Finbar Shields
Shine Moments: Success, Failure and the Tricksters of ComparisonWe might currently see ourselves as failing, not amounting to our potential, falling far short and far behind.
Jan 16, 2024
1
Jan 16, 2024
1
Finbar Shields
Divesting Your Self-Worth from Your Sick IdentityOne of worst parts of being chronically ill is just how fucking gut-wrenchingly humiliating it is. Whether your ails be mental or physical…
Feb 25, 2024
Feb 25, 2024
Finbar Shields
Being an Artist Is Being HereI have been disassociating lately, overwhelmed by life, feeling disconnected from my own body. I’m back in the UK, taking care of my gran…
Jan 18, 2024
2
Jan 18, 2024
2
Finbar Shields
Silence“Silence like a cancer grows.”
Jul 24, 2024
Jul 24, 2024
Finbar Shields
DanceDance is saving me.
Mar 22, 2024
2
Mar 22, 2024
2
Finbar Shields
The Reclaiming of a Name: An Open Letter to the DWP, on the Inhumane Terror of Claiming Benefits…For the past several years I have been living in subterfuge, under a pseudonym on Facebook to keep my sharings free from the skulking eye…
Feb 25, 2024
1
Feb 25, 2024
1
Finbar Shields
Parallel UniversesSometimes I think that thought about parallel universes, that if there are infinite versions of reality, then there are infinite versions…
Dec 22, 2023
1
Dec 22, 2023
1
Finbar Shields
A great big loving fuck you to the culture of shame.I’ve been connecting to and releasing my anger lately — perhaps the most difficult emotion for me to access from years of conditioning…
Dec 4, 2023
4
Dec 4, 2023
4
Finbar Shields
If you are working as a healer in any capacity, you have an obligation to be trauma informed.Things I’ve heard from healers, holistic therapy practitioners and coaches:
Dec 1, 2023
4
Dec 1, 2023
4
Finbar Shields
The Inner Child Needs a Healthy Inner Adult: Having Healthy Inner Boundaries“A child who controls their parents has no confidence in them.”
Nov 25, 2023
2
Nov 25, 2023
2
Finbar Shields
“The Ocean Is Such an Amazing Place”A man says the above line in a traveling video I’ve stumbled across in my YouTube binge, talking about a campaign to protect it and its…
Nov 22, 2023
1
Nov 22, 2023
1
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I went for a naked swim in the river.The cool water cut through the funk I was feeling, and as I dived down I exclaimed “I love you!” to myself inwardly, and it burst through…
Nov 22, 2023
1
Nov 22, 2023
1
Finbar Shields
I just walked out of my first film ever.Not because the film was particularly different or awful, or not any more than a hundred films I’ve sat though before.
Nov 17, 2023
2
Nov 17, 2023
2
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Finbar Shields
The Epidemic Nobody Is Talking About“It all starts with you.”
Jul 26, 2022
Jul 26, 2022
Finbar Shields
Accepting Yourself Is the Best Thing You Will Ever DoThe greatest piece of “self-work” you will ever “do” is self-acceptance.
Nov 3, 2023
1
Nov 3, 2023
1