Peter Cochrane | The Sensual World—Year 2, Winter, 2022

In 2012 I lost the ability to walk outside, drive long distances, or even daydream about travel due to the onset of relentless anxiety and panic attacks. My long morning runs shrank to jogging a few blocks before the world began hurtling in a vertiginous spin. Simple tasks like getting groceries became an ordeal that required hours of mental preparation. I had bought a tough bike and planned a cross-country photography trip, but it lay parked in the hallway gathering dust. I was certain that this was temporary and I’d be standing on a mountaintop again soon, but I plummeted into a constrained and painful new reality. In a matter of months I lost everything I thought I was, and I am only recently—years later—getting some of it back.