Monthly Archives: August 2024

Weekly Check-In

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! It has been an uneventful week. I ended up not doing much except volunteer at PAWS Cat City and Alley Cat Project. I haven’t done much of anything as I have been isolating. I didn’t even go to the Mariner’s game this past Wednesday due to depression and isolation.

On a good note Junior and I have been hanging out together all day, today. We will be going to the University of Washington (UW) Husky football game. We will head over in about a half hour as it is only one stop away on the light rail and it starts at 8pm. Thankfully, Junior and I live not to far from the light rail station. I am looking forward to the game.

I don’t have much more to say in this weekly check in. I do hope to take pictures of the husky game and share them with you. Thank you for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!

A Proud Accomplishment

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! I accomplished something that is no easy feat today. Today, I accomplished 250 straight days of meditation through the Calm App. I have found that meditation has been quite helpful for me especially since I start everyday by meditating. I also use the Calm App meditations when I have some challenging moments which helps quiet my mind a good portion of the time. I am grateful that I have meditation to lean on to help me and that it is a useful skill to have.

I do not have much more to write about in this particular blog post except I hope it doesn’t sound like I am bragging about my meditation accomplishment. I do want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you the reader, read my blog. If it was not for you the reader reading my blog, I would not be continuing to write my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!

Weekly Plans

Posted on by Gertie

Sunday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk
  • Breakfast with my partner, Junior
  • Volunteer at PAWS Cat City
  • Read
  • Art (color and/or rock painting)

Monday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk
  • Clean apartment with help
  • Shadow volunteer shift with Alley Cat Project
  • Evening walk
  • Read
  • Art (color and/or rock painting)

Tuesday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk
  • Attend Emerald House (a mental health clubhouse)
  • Shadow volunteer shift with Alley Cat Project
  • Evening Walk
  • Read
  • Art (color and/or rock painting)

Wednesday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk
  • Attend the Seattle Mariners Game
  • Evening walk
  • Read
  • Art (color and/or rock painting)

Thursday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk
  • Attend two virtual groups
  • Shadow volunteer shift with Alley Cat Project
  • Evening Walk
  • Read
  • Art (color and/or rock painting)

Friday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk
  • Attend Emerald House (a mental health clubhouse)
  • Shadow volunteer shift with Alley Cat Project
  • Evening walk
  • Read
  • Art (color and/or rock painting)

Saturday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk
  • Spend day with Junior as a date day

Weekly Check-In

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! This is not going to be a long weekly check-in as I am not up for writing much at the moment. This has been an up and down week for me and the current weather here in Seattle is not helping my mood much.

I saw my therapist this past week and we discussed how challenging it is to have some intimate moments with my partner, Junior due to PTSD. My therapist gave me some positive feedback regarding intimate moments with Junior and that he loves and respects me to stop intimate moments when I end up in freeze mode due to PTSD. I am so grateful for an awesome therapist and the love of a partner who helps me deal with PTSD. I am hoping that my therapist gets approval from her supervisor to be able to have Junior in one of my sessions with her.

As depressing as the weather has been here in Seattle today and yesterday I am so happy that my cat Billie has been helping with the PTSD and depression. I love my cat so much and I don’t understand why he loves me unconditionally.

I am done with this particular blog post. Thank you for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!

Daily Prompt; On What Subject(s) Are You An Authority?

Posted on by Gertie
Daily writing prompt
On what subject(s) are you an authority?
View all responses

I really do not have the “authority” on any subject but myself. Then again that is debatable at times. I do know that I am knowledgeable in certain subjects but I am surely not an authority in any subject except for myself. That is all I have to say all this subject.

Daily Prompt; How Are You Feeling Right Now?

Posted on by Gertie
Daily writing prompt
How are you feeling right now?
View all responses

Right now I am feeling anger, fear and some anxiety. The reason for these emotions is due to some PTSD symptoms. I am not a big fan of these emotions especially due to stupid PTSD symptoms. I just wish that PTSD would not interfere with my life and my emotions. I also have a difficult time expressing anger, fear and anxiety especially anger. I was not allowed to express most emotions growing up especially anger. Now, I am slowly learning how to express my emotions in an appropriate way for society.

Daily Prompt; What Brings You Peace?

Posted on by Gertie
Daily writing prompt
What brings you peace?
View all responses

I have many things that bring peace. Some of what brings have always given me peace while other things I have had to practice to bring me peace. The one thing that has brought me peace since I could remember is water as well as nature. I grew up in California and went to the beach all the time as well as went to the mountains to hike as well as to camp. Of, course there are lakes that I went to when I camped and/or hiked. Now that I have lived in Seattle for nearly thirty years, I have easy access to water which is easy to get to no matter where in Seattle you live.

Another thing that brings me peace happens to cats. I know it is weird that cats bring me peace but cats do bring me peace. Cats know what brings them peace and they know how to set boundaries. That is one of the reasons why cats bring me peace.

Now on to what I had to learn to what brings me peace. The thing that I learned to help me be at peace is meditation. I am so grateful that I learned meditation as it is something I can do anytime and anywhere. I am so glad I learned meditation.

Daily Prompt; Are You A Leader Or A Follower?

Posted on by Gertie
Daily writing prompt
Are you a leader or a follower?
View all responses

This is a hard one for me to answer as in many situations it appears to others as well as myself that I am a follower while some say I am a leader. In my opinion I think I am a little bit of both. I say this because in some circumstances one needs to be the follower to be able to learn while in other circumstances one needs to be the leader because there is nobody else who can be the leader for whatever reason. So, in my case I tend to be both especially since I am not a natural born leader and I learn for others on how to be a leader.

Daily Prompt; Write About A Random Act Of Kindness You’ve Done For Someone

Posted on by Gertie
Daily writing prompt
Write about a random act of kindness you’ve done for someone.
View all responses

I do not like to share when I do random acts of kindness as I feel like that defeats the purpose of doing them. I do them out of the kindness of my heart and not to stroke my ego which is why I really don’t want to share at the point in time. Yes, I have shared random acts of kindness from time to time but I do my best not to as it defeats the point. I think doing random acts of kindness for people on a daily basis then this world would be a better place.

Weekly Plans

Posted on by Gertie

Sunday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk
  • Volunteer at PAWS Cat City
  • Do self paced online training for Alley Cat Project
  • Read
  • Artwork (color and/or rock painting)

Monday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk
  • Attend Emerald House (a mental health clubhouse)
  • Do some self paced online training for Alley Cat Project and do some shadowing
  • Evening walk
  • Read
  • Artwork (color and/or rock painting)

Tuesday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk
  • Attend Emerald House (a mental health clubhouse)
  • Do self paced online training for Alley Cat Project and some shadowing
  • Evening walk
  • Read
  • Artwork (color and/or rock painting)

Wednesday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk
  • Therapy appointment with therapist
  • Lunch at Red Robin with friends
  • Clean apartment
  • Evening walk
  • Read
  • Artwork (color and/or rock painting)

Thursday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk
  • Attend two virtual groups
  • Do some self paced online training for Alley Cat Project and some shadowing
  • Evening walk
  • Read
  • Artwork (color and/or rock painting)

Friday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk
  • Attend Emerald House (a mental health clubhouse)
  • Do some self paced online training for Alley Cat Project and some shadowing
  • Evening walk
  • Read
  • Artwork (color and/or rock painting)

Saturday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk
  • U-District Farmers Market
  • Spend day with partner