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@soft_orb

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♥ graphic designer & illustrator
♥ @softspot.ie
♥ 31 - long covid / POTS / ME
♥ [email protected]

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

It’s my one year anniversary of breaking my ankle at roller derby! 🥳 The broken bone + mental illness combo is 0/10 bad time would not recommend. I had no idea just how much my injury would affect my life not only physically, but mentally and financially as well. Honestly wasn’t sure I was gonna get through it at some points but my loved ones, my therapist and art all made sure I did 💗 Took just under a year to start feeling “normal” again, but here we are!! Turns out I can do hard things!!

Swipe through for some moments of joy throughout the last year if you want!! Derby pics by Rob Peters, thank ya buddy!!

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I love being hot and weird and gay with my friends!!!! @thewhiteswanball was a dream, thank you @littlejoberrys & @victaurus_cottage for making it happen ✨🌸

More silly dress up events in Ottawa please!!!

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Okay wow, tonight was so special. Thank you everyone for coming and playing dress up with us!

Big love for @kittykateandcoco and @batt.y for set up support! And Ray and Jeff. 💕✨ I’ll be posting loads more red carpet looks, stay tuned!

See you all back in the fall for our next ball: Haunted Wedding!

Thanks for having us @nonnasfamouspizza ✨

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My daughter Ayla misses our home. Sadly, our house was completely destroyed, and worse still, the area is occupied. We don't know if we'll ever be able to return, or if that's just a dream. We lost our home and our land. 😞 My family and I are living in great anxiety these days.

It's wonderful news that the Rafah crossing has reopened. However, our current apartment, which we rent thanks to your continued support, may become unusable once the landlords return from Egypt.

We will struggle to find another place to live.

We are currently trying to find a small apartment or piece of land that we can buy to own after losing everything. Renting is difficult right now because everyone will be returning home soon.

I hope you will share our campaign as much as you can with your family and friends.

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This isn’t a triumphant “I smashed the year” post. It’s a reflection on surviving while chronically depressed, masked smiles in photos, body moving when the mind wanted nothing but stillness.

The “highlights” don’t show the weight carried quietly, the grief disguised as composure, the exhaustion dressed as joy. But I honour the trying. I honour the showing up in whatever broken form existed that day, whirling in survival mode.

As always, I refuse the forced celebration of January 1st. The Gregorian calendar isn’t sacred to me — it’s administration.

A Roman-era mechanism that decided how the whole world must measure time, productivity, “fresh starts” and emotional renewal. I don’t feel life moving that way. I never have. I trust the Earth’s rhythm, not bureaucratic counting.

My New Year doesn’t begin in the coldest, darkest point when everything is barely surviving.

Renewal arrives with Spring. Life begins again when the ground softens, when seeds push, when light returns. We are animals, and winter is for rest — not reinvention on demand.

Capitalism will keep demanding momentum. Empire will keep asking us to smile on schedule. But I’m choosing another truth: darkness isn’t failure. It is fertile. Grief is not a weakness. Slowness is not shame. Rest is legitimate. Showing up while hurting is still showing up.

If you’re entering this “new year” tired, grieving, numb, overwhelmed — you are not late, broken, or behind. You are simply human in winter.

I’ll keep marking time through solstices, equinoxes, resistance, community struggle, healing, remembrance, and love.

I’ll celebrate Spring as renewal. I’ll honour darkness as necessary. And I’ll keep choosing softness, depth, honesty, anti-capitalist care, and refusal to perform happiness on command.

If you see me smiling, know I was also hurting. If you see me moving, know movement was resistance. If you see me resting, know rest is revolutionary.

Here’s to the Earth turning — not because a calendar told me to feel new, but because life keeps insisting on continuing. 🌑🌱

**not pictured are my wholesome online friends/pen pals but know that I love you all so much too**

#newyear #2026 #reflections

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From Rapunzel to the Muppets 🎃🐻✨

Last year’s Halloween theme was Rapunzel — all about hair, light, and freedom. This year we went full Muppets — chaos, colour, and care. I went as Fozzy Bear, because sometimes the best you can do is show up with bad jokes, a big heart, and a fuzzy hug (pls bear with me with all that lolol).

What makes it all special isn’t just the costumes — it’s the community. I’m really grateful to have access to @a4sounds , a space that makes it possible to take part in creativity and connection safely.

Having somewhere inclusive, accessible, and care-minded to gather makes such a difference, especially in a world that often forgets how many of us are still navigating illness and recovery.

You can still have a social life and care for yourself and others. It’s not about doing everything — it’s about doing things with intention, with people who understand & showing up imperfectly.

Sometimes, being present safely is the celebration. Its not a lost art practise. 💫

Wocka wocka, but make it community care.

I hope any of my words and modelling what these look like has touched & motivated someone to revaluate and take action these last few years. Contrary to popular belief - I really dislike touching on this aspect of mental health & disability justice advocacy.

But it's so necessary and I don't see conversations of this on here frequently. Thanks for still being here and supporting my work- even if you disagree (and open to conversations in the comments section!)

Spooky season went by too fast. Time to channel in Grinch mode cos some of yous posting Xmas content already is so gooooooofyyyyyy 😆👻

#halloween2025 #Halloween costume #muppetshow
#muppets #fozzybear #outfıtinspiration #communitycare #radicalacceptance #dublinireland #samhain #allhallowseve #autumn #disabilityjustice

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access information post 2/2 for our masked halloween event this saturday november 1st at @a4soundsstudios ! 🔮👻🦇😷

slide 1: an illustration of a cauldron with the wiggly hand drawn text "access for soft spot" on it. the background is pastel pink, purple and blue stone walls and floor, like in a castle dungeon

slide 2: Garden Social: The garden area is accessible through a large door straight ahead of you when you enter the gallery space. Some light snacks and drinks will be provided outside. Alcohol is allowed (BYOB). Drinks and snacks are to be consumed outside only, as masks are required indoors. There will be heaters and a covered area in case of bad weather. There will also be a fire pit. You can take breaks in the outdoor area at any point during the event

slide 3: Seating: There will be 2 armchairs, 2 small sofas and padded mats to lounge on or lie down on. Indoor seating will also include white plastic canteen chairs and cushions. Chair pads will also be available. Outdoor seating will consist of wooden benches, wooden stools and plastic stools

slide 4: Lighting & Sound. Images and films will be projected on a large screen. The room will be low lit with some spot lighting. There will be coloured lighting and projecting, but no flashing lights

slide 5: Bathrooms: There are 3 gender-neutral bathrooms up a flight of stairs with approximately 22 steps. There is one accessible portaloo in the outdoor garden area, which is on the ground level

slide 6: If you have any other questions about access or the event in general, please comment or DM and we'd be happy to answer :^)

#covidisntover #covidart #covidsafe #covidsucks

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access information post 1/2 for our masked halloween event this saturday november 1st at @a4soundsstudios ! 🔮👻🦇😷

slide 1: an illustration of a cauldron with the wiggly hand drawn text "access for soft spot" on it. the background is pastel pink, purple and blue stone walls and floor, like in a castle dungeon

slide 2: COVID Precautions (1/2) This event takes place both indoors & outdoors. Masks are required indoors At All Times. If you need to eat or drink, masks may be removed in the outdoor space. Air purifiers with HEPA filters will be running during the event. FFP2 masks will be available at the door.

slide 3: COVID Precautions (2/2) Please take an antigen test (or Plus Life if available to you) before coming to the event if possible
If you test positive for COVID, if you are unwell or have been around someone who is sick or feels newly unwell, please stay home. If you are traveling by public transport or taxi to the event, please wear a mask on your journey

slide 4: The Gallery: The A4 Sounds gallery is located on the ground floor. It is located about 5m from the front door. There is a small ramp into the gallery space. The floor is a suspended wooden floor. The outdoor garden space can be accessed via the gallery

slide 5: If you have any other questions about access or the event in general, please comment or DM and we'd be happy to answer :^)

#covidsucks #covidart #covidsafe

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Birthdays arrive wearing bright party hats and yet, for so many of us, they also carry the heavy, invisible luggage of everything we’ve survived.

When you turn a new age, the world around you often expects celebration, balloons, declarations of “you made it!”

But I want it to be known that: birthdays can be a complex ritual for those whose bodies, minds, histories and futures have been shaped by trauma.

Liberatory lens asks: Who gets to feel uncomplicated joy growing older? Who gets to imagine the future without fear? Who gets to age without negotiating pain inside the flesh they inhabit?

For a person living with childhood trauma, chronically ill, disabled, existential dread or chronic suicidality, the passing of another year isn’t just a celebration.

It is a confrontation.

It is a reckoning with:
• The child you once were & didn’t get to be
• The pain stitched into your bones before you even had language
• The body that has fought relentlessly just to remain here

Birthdays become an anniversary of survival.

Survival is triumphant.
Survival is exhausting.
Nothing about this complexity is a failure. It is wisdom.

My grief around time is not maladaptive. It is a signpost of a life lived against the odds.

It is my body remembering all the years I thought or hoped would be the last.

The ache of wanting a world that doesn’t demand so much perseverance just to exist.

There is no moral requirement to celebrate aging if aging has been war.

And yet, there is also this:

That quiet continued existence is a form of activism in itself.

Breathing is a bold refusal.
Waking up is a small revolution.

We honour the both/and:

Both imagining a better future
And fearing the weight of another year
We ask not “Why can’t you be happier?”
But “How can the world change so you don’t have to hurt like this?”

You are not obligated to perform joy. You are invited to craft rituals that soothe and honour the fullness of your story

#birthdayblues #birthdaydepression #traumainformed #dublinireland #itsokaynottobeokay #mentalhealthawareness #writersofinstagram #aces #childhoodtrauma #cptsd #covidcautious #maskup #scorpioseason #communitycare #irishinfluencer Photo by Blezzing Dada | Mental Health Activist 🇮🇪🇵🇸 #maskup!🦠 on October 29, 2025. May be an image of ‎one or more people, raincoat, parka and ‎text that says "‎שכה Birthday#OOTD!! Birthday #OOTD!!‎"‎‎.

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The arduous journey of displacement Nothing is more horrific than displacement, leaving your home and memories behind.😔
You flee with your children and yourself for survival, only to face an unknown fate.

Displacement is extremely expensive, and transportation is arduous and expensive.

A tent literally costs more than 1,000 euros.
If you wanted to rent a house in southern Gaza, it would cost you approximately 1,500 euros.

Exorbitant prices. Displacement and leaving your home is humiliating and exhausting.

Please pray for us.

Contribution link in bio🫂🤍

Don't forget Yaser and Hazem❤

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I had a home here.😭😖

My home, my paradise, my comfort, the safest place on earth.

Today, it’s no longer there.

It’s a pile of rubble.

It stood firm for a year and a half despite the destruction of everything around it.
(I didn’t live there because the area was too dangerous.) But I was reassured that it was there and that I would return to it one day.

It had suffered extensive damage.
All the surrounding houses were destroyed.

But during the truce, I wouldn’t sit for a single hour.

I made it more beautiful than before.
(It was literally a rose among thorns.)

I lived there for less than two months.
The happiest moments were for my children, Ayla and nafeth. A large, 200-square-meter house.
Many rooms, brightly lit by the sun.
A room filled with all kinds of toys.
I took great care of everything in it.

When we left on April 3, 2025, I could only carry a small bag for the children. I said, “In a few days, we’ll be back.”

I wished I had placed my entire home in my heart that day. My mind can’t comprehend that all the memories have gone just like this!?

My clothes, my belongings, and the utensils I carefully chose.

The sad thing is that my 3-year-old daughter, Ella, has been waking up every day for about 3 weeks now, telling me, “Mama, let’s go home, the planes are gone.”
She remembers her toys one by one, especially her red car.

I was worried she’d remember even the smallest details of the two months we spent at home during the truce.

It seems my daughter felt like there was no longer a home.

Today, I told her there was no longer one!

She looked into my eyes and felt like she wanted to cry.

She said, “Where will we go?”

How will we find a home?

How will I bring my toys?

There is nothing beautiful waiting for me.

There is nothing to console my heart with the bitterness of these days.

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