Nikki Britton

Sydney – what a gal! She’s a complex beauty, whose magic can take your breath away one minute, and make you feel detached and alone the next.  I was born and raised here, but despite having family and friends dotted throughout this vast contradiction of a city, it can often still feel like I don’t fit. It’s a tough place to be single when a dual income is the only way to get ahead in housing, and using the T3 lane is the only way to get ahead in traffic. Being a ‘party of one’ doesn’t always feel like a party. He’s an absolute smooch machine. A goofy little garbage guts. A thicc boy with a heart full of love. And living on your own in a pandemic lockdown? Proper Cast Away vibes. I mean, I didn’t have a volleyball, I’m not that sporty. But the beard had really come in thick. After the lockdowns lifted and I could finally get in to see my therapist again, she explained the numbness and disconnection I was feeling may have been ‘oxytocin depletion’. Oxytocin is that hormone you hear a lot about with mothers and babies. The bonding hormone. But all mammals have it throughout their lives, and we all need it. It is released when we physically connect with each other, and it is a positive loop hormone, meaning the more you hug, the more you release, so the more you want to hug. It’s also vital in maintaining healthy trust and social function in humans.  But if you haven’t had healthy levels of oxytocin for an extended period, the receptors in your brain that receive and distribute o