Start Here (If You’re New)
This page will help you get oriented to the content available inside this Substack space.
My content is documentation of lived experience—over four decades of depression, suicidal ideation, heavy losses in life, deep and prolonged grief, self-isolation, unemployment, 16 months of homelessness living in a car, and survival.
These posts are me sharing the slow work of deep self-scrutiny, the reflective process, reconstructing a person, and building a new life.
This is not clinical advice.
It’s not a polished recovery story.
And it’s definitely not inspiration porn.
I’m writing the parts most people edit out.
Messy, uncomfortable truths and stories that remain unsaid and unshared among fellow humans. Its the kind of things people take to their graves.
A Quick Note for Your Safety
My project covers heavy topics: depression, suicidal ideation, trauma, loss, grief, and homelessness. I present it honestly because sanitizing it would defeat the purpose. This may be potentially triggering, and I wanted you to be informed before reading something you wish you hadn’t.
You know yourself better than anyone.
You may now make an informed choice to continue.
If you’re not up for this content right now, all good. This note did its job!
This content will be here when you’re ready for it. Be well.
This is not medical advice. Don’t use this as a substitute for professional mental health care. If you’re struggling, please seek professional help.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please reach out to 988.
The Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org
I’ve called them myself when I had no one else to connect with who got it. They met me where I was. I felt supported and could move forward. They helped me a lot. They are good people.
What Is This Space About?
What I’ve found in sharing is a web of interconnectedness among core experiences. It’s typically called the “human experience.”
An overwhelming majority of humans do not share their experiences with others for a wide variety of reasons.
What I’m exploring here are the interwoven shared experiences we all have simply from being human. Happiness, sadness, joy, grief, embarrassment, shame, and guilt—these are universal. They’re triggered from different places, spaces, and times. The constant is the deeper feelings that surface once you can sit with them.
My experience has taught me that most people are good and friendly. However, there always seems to be a point at which they barricade themselves. Unwilling to share more. That’s most likely rooted in feelings of guilt or shame around the sharing and discomfort sitting with what’s “behind one’s curtain.”
The “editing” that happens—whether conscious or not—is where we begin misunderstanding one another.
If you’ve ever felt invisible, transparent, erased, or like you’re just barely holding on… you’re in the right place.
Subscribe. It’s free. And, share this with people you know who might benefit.
Publishing Schedule
New posts Sundays & Thursdays at 6:00am ET.
What Readers Are Saying
“Bert’s writing is tender, honest, and deeply human.
He shares the parts of life that aren’t polished or easy—the moments we’re often taught to hide—and in doing so, he creates a rare sense of safety.
I encourage you to dive in, read slowly, and let yourself connect with the healing his writing makes possible.”— Jodi, January 25, 2026
Where to Begin?
Read the options below and choose the path that fits your interest or situation.
The main narrative arc (recommended)
Start with Losing Agency (Parts 1–3) — the series that explains the “erasure event” and what life looks like after.
If you’re new, this is the cleanest on-ramp.
If you’re living with depression
Start here:
Functional Depression — the loop, the exhaustion, the performance
Masking — why people don’t recognize what you’re carrying
Hypervigilance — the scanning, predicting, preparing that never shuts off
Dissociation — from daydreaming to trauma response
Then explore whatever resonates.
If you’re trying to understand someone you love
Read the three posts above, in order.
Pay close attention to “The Cost” sections—that’s what they may not be saying out loud.
Not sure where to start?
Just pick one and follow the links. They’re all interconnected.
What Else Is Here?
Mental Hospital Series (4 episodes with video)
What it’s like inside a psychiatric hospital for multiple days.
What I learned. What broke me.
Start here:
Coming Soon…
Anhedonia—the inability to feel pleasure; living in gray static
“Not Good Enough” Story—the core wound; how childhood compiles into a belief you can’t shake
Car Life Snapshots—16 months homeless, living in my car; specific moments, raw and unfiltered
...and more as the catalog builds
How to Follow & Support
Subscribe for Free Get new posts delivered to your inbox. No spam. Just the work. Plus, we all love free.
Share with others If something resonates, share it. These posts help people feel less alone.
Comment Your words matter. Comments create connection. Sharing gives back big time.
Listen Barely, But Here is also available as a podcast (voice-cloned from the written posts). Podcast link
Support the work if it has value for you
Becoming a patron or send a one-time donation.
Your support makes this project’s work sustainable.
This Is Documentation, Not Clinical Advice
I’m not a doctor, and I don’t play one on TV.
I’m a human documenting what it’s like to barely be here. And the work of becoming more than barely.
One More Thing…
You’re here because something led you here. It is not by chance.
Maybe you’re living this.
Maybe you’re trying to understand someone who is.
Maybe you just stumbled across it and couldn’t look away.
Whatever brought you here: I’m grateful you’re here.
This writing exists because I survived and am working on more healing. I’m documenting it so others know they can too.
You’re not alone. And what you’re carrying matters.
I would be grateful if you would subscribe (it’s free).
And do share Barely, But Here with someone who may benefit from knowing this exists.
I’m deeply grateful for your attention. It’s both valuable and irreplaceable.
Be well,
Bert.