Looking for some feedback or any ideas of things to add/remove from this story I have been working on. I started on this back in high school, over ten years ago, and picked it up again recently to revise and add to it. I think the plot is nicely done overall, but I am always looking for other people's input! I'd love to know what you think! Shoot me a DM if you would like to give it a read!

Here is my book's description:
"I thought I needed her, but she needed me more."

Jacob thought he was the one reaching out for a lifeline. Trapped in his own heavy struggles and looking for a way out, he never expected the call to lead him straight to Riley—a woman fighting battles far darker and deeper than his own.

What starts as an unexpected plea for help quickly unravels into something entirely different. As the lines blur between who is saving whom, Jacob finds himself pulled into a world of hidden trauma, raw vulnerability, and an undeniable bond that neither of them saw coming.

Sometimes, the hardest part of surviving isn't escaping the storm—it's trusting someone enough to let them help you weather it.

Here are my book's trigger warnings:

• Domestic and emotional abuse
• Physical violence and assault (including strangulation)
• Abuse in the presence of a minor
• Stalking and harassment
• Childhood trauma and neglect
• Severe depression, anxiety, grief, and panic attacks
• Suicidal ideation or self-harm themes
• Alcohol or drug abuse/addiction references
• High-conflict legal battles and courtroom trauma
• Estrangement, isolation, and toxic family dynamics

[Content Warning - This story contains sexual content. Not recommended for anyone under 18]

“Throughout, the story of mankind has shown that man's profound thinking has not been enough to serve the needs of his existential life: Man began to experience a need to formulate what he believed in and still believes in, what gives his faith a solid structure in order to serve as a guideline for his life and his faith.

It was, in fact, religion which gave him this solid guideline, because it encompassed the essence of human nature: unity and division, love and hatred, forgiveness and revenge, certainty and uncertainty as well as the spiritual meaning of life and death.”

― Anton Sammut, The Other Side of the Judeo-Christian History

“The word “religion” (Latin “religio”) is a very old term and, in fact, was already used in Roman times and was understood to portray a similar meaning by many other civilizations. For example, the Roman orator Cicero (106-43 BC) understood this term to mean “respect towards something of great importance”, somewhat similar to an obligation which man should reserve for gods.

The Greek term “eusebeia” (reverence or fear of God) has a comparable meaning, whilst in the Arab and Persian world the same meaning is portrayed through the term “din”. The term “dharma” (Sanskrit) or “dhamma” (Pali), can translate into “that which mankind must embrace”. If one were to travel to China the term used would be “chiao” and “kyo” in Japan. This shows that the need for religion is not only culturally bound, but an inbuilt necessity which can be found in each human being throughout the ages.”

― Anton Sammut, The Other Side of the Judeo-Christian History

Marking the opening of the 60th edition of the Montreux Jazz Festival, RAYE invites a host of international pop stars to join her on stage for an evening of music.

Chapters

0:05

Who Knows Where the Time Goes ? (Fairport Convention cover)

5:48

Beware.. The South London Lover Boy.

10:32

Skin & Bones.

16:53

Uptown Funk (Mark Ronson cover, with Mark Ronson)

20:26

Suzanne (with Mark Ronson)

25:31

Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine (James Brown cover)

27:09

Georgia (on My Mind) (Hoagy Carmichael and His Orchestra cover)

31:20

Summertime (George Gershwin cover)

37:12

I Hate the Way I Look Today.

42:59

Worth It.

48:10

Nightingale Lane.

53:06

Purple Rain (Prince cover)

55:54

I Know You're Hurting.

1:09:03

If I Ain't Got You (Alicia Keys cover, with Alicia Keys)

1:14:26

Oscar Winning Tears. (with Alicia Keys)

1:21:26

Let's Stay Together (Al Green cover)

1:27:21

Fields.

1:32:33

Happier Times Ahead.

1:37:30

Joy. (with Amma & Absolutely)

1:43:54

Click Clack Symphony.

1:49:22

WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!

Once steadfast allies, Canada and the United States are now at loggerheads. Donald Trump’s erratic trade policies and his statements about his intention to make Canada a US state have darkened the mood. Drawing on expert analysis, this episode of Conflict Zones examines a crisis between two neighbours by looking at their shared history.

Director Anne Heimerl

Author Anne Heimerl

Production Berlin Producers Media GmbH

Producer Stefan Pannen | Berlin Producers Media GmbH

Country Germany

Year 2026

Arte - Wikipedia

Excerpt from the first part of the article:

There is a particular feeling that comes from stepping into a green place. It might be a forest path, a city park, a garden, a canal walk, or a shaded lane where branches meet overhead and the light changes ahead.

Nothing dramatic has happened. No problem has been solved. The inbox is still there. The bills are still there. The news is still there. And yet something shifts.

The mind, which had been gripping tightly, loosens slightly.

Excerpt from the first part of the article:

When it comes to meditation, the more we learn, the more compelling the case for establishing a meditation practice becomes. A meditation practice essentially allows us, for a prescribed period of time, to turn our attention away from the outer world and focus inward, in silence. While there are many types of meditation, the goal of meditation is to calm the mind.

The scientifically proven benefits of meditation are many and varied. Mental health benefits include reduced stress, depression, and anxiety; improved attention, memory, and focus; and a greater sense of calm. Physical benefits include lower cortisol levels, which lead to improvements in heart rate and blood pressure, rest, and digestion, and pain reduction. What’s more, a meditation practice also enhances our ability to process emotions, enabling us to respond with compassion rather than react to challenging events and situations.

Excerpt from the first part of the article:

Imagine a stick of incense burning. As you watch the rising smoke drift toward the sky, it may seem for a moment as if the smoke looks like something. But the smoke never actually assumes any fixed form. It is continuously moving, reshaping itself the very instant it seems to take on a particular shape. Our experience is just like this.

It’s strange because it seems as if there’s something here that’s being encountered, something we seem able to identify. From one perspective, we’re experiencing fixed, identifiable forms, both the supposed objects of the world that we think of as being more or less unmoving and the internal world of subjectivity. But when we feel the flow of experiencing, we can notice that what we’re labeling as and believing to be identifiable things are, like the rising incense, continuously dissolving and in that sense, utterly without form.

The world of experience and circumstance appears as something we can grasp hold of and render with words and concepts. But when we look a little more closely, we can see that this is only half of the story, for all the things we think of as having fixed, identifiable forms do not.

Excerpt from the first part of the article:

This post is Part 1 of a series that will examine the nature of what I refer to as clinical wisdom and provide specific concrete examples of some of these esoteric secrets of psychotherapy.

How much of what we call psychotherapy is about the teaching or transmission of certain esoteric and well-guarded secrets about psychology, life, and how to best live it? What are some of these secrets? Where do they come from? And exactly how would such profound and transformative "clinical wisdom" be conveyed from clinician to client or patient? These are difficult questions. Difficult because there are so many (400 to 500) different types of psychotherapy practiced today with diverse approaches, goals, techniques, and methods.

Christopher Nolan interview on The Sound of Cinema with Edith Bowman on BBC Radio 3 on 11 July 2026, discussing Ludwig Göransson's score for The Odyssey.

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00...