A 24-year-old woman has a strong love of the color red and goes to university while working part-time. She has an irrational fear of missing information whenever she borrows her mother's newspaper. This fear causes her to buy another newspaper to replace the one she borrowed in order to fill the hole inside her and neutralize her fear of loss. Her therapist advises her to sit with the fear and hole next time instead of feeding it, and that it will pass if she refuses to give in to it.

1. A different type
of love story

2. She is 24, and has a love of all things red.
Red cereal boxes, red soap, any picture
saturated with the color red.
She goes to university and works part time.

3. • Her mum loves Sudoko puzzles.
• Can I take this newspaper, she asked as her
daughter was making a cup of Rosehip tea.
• Sure.
• And then her fear kicked in – what was in that
paper, why did I keep it? What have I lost?

4. • She told me she
knew how irrational
it was, buying
another paper to
compensate for the
loss
• But it felt like she had
filled the hole inside.
The hole created by
the loss of the paper.

5. • And so we talked about the hole inside.
• And then we talked about how acquiring soothed
and neutralised the fear.
• Next time, sit with the fear, the hole. See how
long it lasts. Refuse to feed it. It will go away and
you will be ok.
• And you will be in control.