Tag Archives: Art

Traditions & The Holidays

Posted on by Gertie

Hello, World!!! I am not sure how to feel at the moment as I have many emotions that are swarming around. Some emotions I am dealing with are not all the pleasant and really wanting to avoid them while other emotions more pleasant and obviously more willing to not avoid them. This is the time of year where things don’t go so well for me in regards to my mental health challenges. Specifically, my depression and PTSD. Thankfully, I have plenty of ways to take care of myself this time of year.

One of the things that was suggested to me early on in my recovery during the holidays was to start my own traditions that I can do with or without people. The only thing I could think of at the time was the two comic books that I had; Christmas with the Superhero’s, Volumes One and Two. So, every year, starting the day after Thanksgiving, I read those two comic books several times during the holiday season. On Christmas Day I read both twice.

Another tradition I started about eight or so years ago was to do a holiday themed jigsaw puzzle. I usually start the puzzle on November 25th or Thanksgiving Day, whichever arrives first. I have several holiday themed jigsaw puzzles I do and sometimes I am able to do two or three depending on the size while other years I only complete one. The one I am doing this year is a thousand pieces and I know from experience that it most likely will be the only holiday puzzle I do this year due to the size. The best part of this tradition is I get to see the “fruits” of my labor by the time Christmas arrives and enjoy it till January 2nd. Of course when I do several smaller holiday puzzles in a holiday season I see more than just one accomplished puzzle. Being able to see an accomplished puzzle helps with my personal morale for the season.

Even though the two traditions I mentioned already have been great traditions to keep and will continue to keep, I decided to add a new tradition this year. That tradition is to do some art. Specifically, coloring a holiday poster or two depending on size and detail. I have decided this tradition will be like the puzzles and start on November 25th or Thanksgiving, whichever arrives first. I have started coloring a holiday poster as of yesterday (November 25th). I am positive I will have at least one accomplished by Christmas Day.

For me starting my own holiday traditions has been a lifesaver for me and my recovery. The reason being is because most of the other holidays traditions I follow through with has some form of trauma or sadness tied to them and needed some that didn’t have either. Most of the other traditions I do includes family as my family is big on traditions. The holidays are not the best time of year for me due to the trauma I have experienced around the holidays so having traditions of my own helps me redefine what the holidays are for me.

I could go on and on about traditions however I won’t as I am getting a little sleepy and plan on going to bed. I want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone has a good night of sleep ahead of them if it is nighttime for you. If not I hope you have a good day ahead of you. Peace Out, World!!!

Blogging in Pain While Being Mindful

Posted on by Gertie

Good Afternoon, World!!! I sit here typing primarily with one hand and it is quite challenging. Long story short last Friday, (November 8th), I injured my hand and wrist. I tripped over my poor cat, Lil Gertie. Thankfully, my cat, Lil Gertie, is just fine and being her usual self. Sadly, I am the one who got injured but am beyond grateful that Lil Gertie was not injured. Like I mentioned at the beginning I injured my wrist and hand. I went to the Emergency Room (ER) and got it x-rayed and unfortunately it was too swollen to notice any type of broken bone or fracture. Both the resident and attending believe I could have some form of fracture which is why they put my wrist a supportive type thing I can take on and off but want me to keep it on till I am able to get it re-x-rayed which is going to happen this Friday (November 15th). If it is fractured I will get a cast if not I will continue wearing what I have and go to physical therapy. They put me on some pretty powerful pain meds. I am not taking them as often as my doctor would like because I fear of getting addicted but my doctor is grateful that I am taking them with the help of other things. For instance I am also taking over the counter (otc) meds like Tylenol and Ibuprofen as well as icing my wrist and doing some mindfulness and mediation. I may be in a pain but at least I am able to get through it.

As I mentioned one of the ways I am helping with the pain is doing some mindfulness and meditation. I am primarily using the Calm App to do this. I have found that the Calm App to be quite helpful. The primary narrator is Tamara Levitt. She has en extremely calming voice.  The Calm App is a free app and you can also subscribe to it annually to receive more mindfulness techniques which is something I have done. I really enjoy doing mindfulness meditation now. I have found it quite helpful for my recovery with my mental health challenges as well as with my health. Yes, it is sometimes challenging to take time out of your day to do mindfulness and/or meditation but it helps start the day off right as well as to end the day off right. I schedule to do it twice a day and try to make an effort to do it more than twice daily.

Something else I have been doing lately beside mindfulness meditation is art. The type of art I have specifically been doing is painting. I have been painting some abstracts that are looking pretty cool. It is something I can do with my good hand and wrist. Painting and other type of art help me a great deal with letting out emotions I am unable to speak which is essence helps me with my recovery.

I don’t have much else to say and am in physical pain so I will end this post. I hope everyone has a good rest of your day. Thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I hope everyone has a great rest of their day. In fact I hope everyone has a great rest of their week. Peace Out, World!!!

Long Time No Blog

Posted on by Gertie

Good Afternoon, World!!! It has been quite some time since I last blogged. There is no particular reason why I haven’t blogged and I have no real or good excuse to why I haven’t blogged. I guess, I could say life has been getting in the way but part of my life does consist of the blogging community. In fact I have made friends from the blogging community and am grateful for that.

Anyway, I want to update you on my cat, Lil Gertie. Lil Gertie is doing well and acting like her typical self. She had a biopsy done to confirm the original test of cancer but sadly the biopsy didn’t confirm or deny cancer as all the samples the vet took were all inflamed. Lil Gertie’s vet, Dr. B said that inflammation is most likely the sign of infection so we put Lil Gertie on some antibiotics. Dr. B is “cautiously optimistic” with the biopsy results but also doesn’t want to give me “false hope” with the biopsy results and am grateful that she is upfront with such things and the cool part is she informs you in a compassionate way. I wish the biopsy results were not so frustrating and would have been more informative but at least I know that Dr. B can now do the surgery and not have to refer me to a different vet to do it. Even though I scheduled a surgery in January for Lil Gertie, I am not sure if surgery is the way I want to go as if the lump continues to grow, I want Lil Gertie to have a good quality of life and not suffer. As frustrating as the biopsy results are I am grateful that Dr. B is an upfront and compassionate vet who wants what is best for my cat. I will keep you updated on Lil Gertie as she is a major part of my life.

As far as what the rest of the day holds for me is to just lay low and really not do much. I will be doing some good self care. For today, self care looks like listening to several episodes of a podcast about philosophy as I do some art work as I have incense burn. The type of art work I will be doing is coloring and painting. I most likely do more coloring than painting as I am trying to finish up some coloring projects before the holidays as I am going to give them as gifts. I am also trying to finish up one painting for a friend of mine but that will only take about fifteen minutes plus drying time. I love both coloring and painting. Coloring and painting or any type of art is therapeutic for me and it is also educational for me because I tend to listen to podcast when doing some form of art. Usually the podcast I listen to gives me knowledge on topics I am not familiar with.

Anyway, I don’t have much more to say with out blabbing on and on about the same thing. I want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone has a great Monday. In fact I hope everyone has a great work week. Peace Out, World!!!

First Day of Autumn

Posted on by Gertie

Good Afternoon, World!!! Happy first day of autumn. Today, totally feels like an autumn day here in Seattle. Hell, it has been feeling like autumn for most of the month of September here in Seattle. In fact it is going to be one of those days I will stay home and cuddle with my cat especially since I have already done what I needed to do both work wise and errand wise.

Before I continue on what I am going to do for the rest of the day, I want to tell you about my one on one, supervision with my supervisor went. My supervisor and I had a supervision today. We discussed things going on at work. The best part of it was that he is “happy” with my notes and is “impressed” that I asked ways that I could communicate better with the young adults better. My supervisor informed me of various ways and he thinks I do a “pretty good job” with communicating overall.

Now on to what I am going to do on this very fall like weather on the first day of autumn. First and fore most I will be be spending some time with my cat, Lil Gertie. Lil Gertie is my pride on joy and am happy that I adopted her. In fact when I went to adopt a cat, Lil Gertie chose me and when she did, she rescued me. I didn’t really rescue her because I think she does more for me than I do for her. I love my cat, Lil Gertie so very much and it’s hard to think how my life would be different if I didn’t have my cat.

Since the day is a yucky autumn day I am going to stay inside for the reminder of the day. Besides spending it with my cat, I will be reading. I am reading How to Be an Antiracist. Yes, I am still reading because I put it down for about a week so I could focus on finishing up another book for a book club I am a part of. I love to read and am grateful that it is one of my go to things to do for relaxing as well as a DBT skill.

Another thing I will be doing today is art work. Specifically, I will be coloring. I am working on multiple coloring projects. I love to color. Coloring is another thing that is relaxing for me as well as DBT skill I go to a great deal. I hope to share with you with what I am coloring so you can see the progress. Coloring is also a mindfulness exercise for me.

I do not have much more to say. I just want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone has a great week ahead. Also, enjoy you first day of autumn. Peace Out, World!!!

Weekly Check In

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! I have realized that doing a weekly check in with you my reader has helped me a great deal than you. I also realize that doing a weekly check in keeps you up to date on how things are going for me. It also helps with keeping you somewhat interested in continuing to read my blog. Yes, I know it is a bit selfish on my part however I know from experience when I follow a blog and the person doesn’t blog for awhile I tend to loose interest and I don’t want you to loose interest even though it is just about my boring ass life.

Now that I bored you on why I am doing weekly check ins again, let me bore you on what happened in my life this past week. I really didn’t do much this past week. I found myself doing art related stuff. Mainly, I colored and did some painting. I got inspired to do some painting by watching The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross. Granted, I didn’t do anything Bob Ross did and did an abstract painting.

Another thing I mostly did this week was read. I am reading How to Be an Antiracist. I am really enjoy the book. I am learning a great deal. I hope when I am finished with the book that I do a book review on it. I also hope that if I remember to blog at work during a slow moment that I tell you what I have learn thus far from the book.

Something I did this week was attend a writing class I am in. I love the writing class and am learning a great deal about characters and how to build a scene. I am enjoying the class immensely and will be sad when it ends in two weeks.

Sadly, something that didn’t happen this week was Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) group. I was so looking forward to group. Even though it is not easy to do and I have to take responsibility for my actions, I like the group.

The one thing the writing class and DBT group have in common is homework. I enjoy doing “homework” as it helps me build the structure I need for my everyday life as well as my recovery. Sadly, the homework for my writing class will end when the class ends.

Another thing I did was see my therapist. It was a good session. We scheduled an appointment for next week for three o’clock but forgot if it was for Tuesday or Thursday. But it something I can confirm on Monday which is something I will do.

The one thing I have also been doing is applying for new jobs. I really like my current job but it is the hours I don’t like. I am not fond of working a twelve hour night shift but at least it is job and am grateful for it. I just need a job that is not twelve hours and/or at night. In fact I a work tonight. I do enjoy my job.

I do not have much more to check in about. Thank you so much for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone enjoys their weekend. Peace Out, World!!!

Another Friday the 13th Post

Posted on by Gertie

Happy Friday the 13th, World!!! I am enjoying my evening but sadly, I do not think I will be able to see the full moon tonight as it is cloudy here in Seattle. Yes, it would be nice to see a full moon on Friday the 13th and the next one isn’t for another thirty years but I remember the last one which is cool thing. The last one happened when I was twenty one and the next one wont happen till I am seventy which I find interesting.

One of the things I have been enjoying is watching the television show The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross. Watching Bob Ross is soothing for me to watch. It also inspires me to paint. I wish I could paint as well as Bob Ross and able to paint scenery like him. Maybe I should attempt to paint one of his painting but at this point in time I don’t have want it takes to buy the supplies. I am only able to afford some art supplies but not all.

Beside watching Bob Ross, I have been reading the book How to Be an Antiracist. I only read three chapters today and wish I would have read more. Maybe that is something I can do tonight since I am going to be up tonight so I can sleep tomorrow since I work a twelve hour night shift tomorrow night. I can also read when it is slow at work tomorrow night. I love reading especially something that I can educate myself on and to be a better ally to people.

I do not have much more to blog about at the moment. I want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone has a great Friday the 13th as well as an awesome weekend. Peace Out, World!!!

The Cool Day of Friday the 13th w/a Full Moon

Posted on by Gertie

Happy Friday the 13th, World!!! It is Friday the 13th and we are going to have a full moon. I know it is a rarity but I don’t understand why people are so superstitious about it. It is just another day that happens to have moon that is full. I actually tend to have good luck on Friday the 13th but I really don’t put much stock into it being a particular day.

Overall, I am having an okay type of day. Some of my depression symptoms are acting up but not too badly which is a good thing. I haven’t exactly been isolating but I also haven’t been reaching out to people. I have been selectively engaging with some form of human contact. I am doing this just because I don’t want to deal with a lot of drama.

Since I don’t want to deal with drama or a lot of people, I have been spending time with my cat, Lil Gertie. I am loving the fact that she has been extra cuddly today. I think she knows I will be away for more than twelve hours tomorrow night due to work. Either that or she knows my depression symptoms are starting to increase. Whatever her reason, I am grateful for my cats, Lil Gertie’s, unconditional love as well as her being extra cuddly today.

Something I have been doing today is watching The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross. For some reason his show is soothing to me. I wish I could paint the way he paints but that doesn’t matter as just watching him paint as he explains his technique is soothing and a form of self care for me.

I think what I am going to do after blogging, eating dinner and watching the five o’clock news is to read the book “How to Be an Antiracist.” I am learning a great deal from this book and hope to share what I have learned once I am done with the book. Hell, I might tell you what I have learned so far in another blog post.

I do not have much more to say and will in this blog post. I want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone has a good Friday the 13th as well as an awesome weekend. Peace Out, World!!!

Middle of the Night Ramblings

Posted on by Gertie

Hello, World!!! It is the middle of the night here in the Seattle area. Our weather has been interesting the last week. Last Saturday we had a pretty major thunderstorm for our area which I really found pretty cool. In fact we been having some thunderstorms go through the Seattle area again tonight. Not as major or as long as last Saturday but still pretty cool. I think we have had three or four relatively small thunderstorms tonight. I enjoy thunderstorms most of the time. As far as tonight goes, I am enjoying them.

As soothing as thunderstorms are and I am wanting to discuss more soothing things, lets start on something slightly more difficult so we can end on a positive note. I was suppose to have Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Group and sadly it was cancelled. I was disappointed as I was looking forward to it. I was looking forward to it because I was wanting to share a couple of successes I had.

Thankfully, I was able to share my successes with my therapist as I had a therapy session. My therapist is pretty cool and understanding or that is my personal opinion. We also discussed some things that were somewhat difficult to discuss. Another thing we talked about personal goals. I had some difficulty with this because I feel like some of my goals have been put on the back burner and the blame is a hundred percent my fault on that. We talked about how some goals are put on the back burner to be able to focus on other things. It doesn’t been they won’t be put on the front burner again, it just means I needed to adjust some things in my life at the moment. Another thing we discussed was self care and what I have been doing to do good self care. I told him I am back to doing my two daily walks again or at least the ones I schedule. I informed him that I walk once in the morning and then again in the evening. We also discussed other forms of self care that are also inline to my goals which I found quite productive.

As far as self care goes, my cat, Lil Gertie, is a major part of it. Having Lil Gertie around to love as well as to take care of her is a major part of my daily self care. Her unconditional love reminds me to do good self care and is helping me to learn to love myself.

Learning to love myself is just one form of self care that I have made an effort to do along side of other things. Other things such as burning incense. In fact as I am writing this blog I have incense burning. For some reason it helps me calm down and it reduces my anxiety.

In fact my anxiety was really high earlier and one of the things I turned to was to watch a television show on Netflix. A show that helped me a great deal when I was a child and teenager. The show is The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross. For some reason I find his show extremely soothing. Add his show with some incense and a thunderstorm is good self care for me. Of course the universe helped with the thunderstorm but Bob Ross and incense was my way of self care tonight.

In fact I think I am going to end this post so I back to watching The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross. I want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my perspective. Again, thank you for reading my blog. I hope you have a good Friday the 13th. Peace Out, World!!!

A Friday Night Post

Posted on by Gertie

Happy Friday, World!!! It is Friday night in my corner of the world. Friday nights I usually stay up all night so I can sleep all day on Saturdays. I sleep all day on Saturdays because I work a twelve hour shift on Saturday night. Working nights reeks havoc on my sleep even if I only do work one night a week and that sucks.

As far as my plans to stay up tonight is the obvious of spending time with my cat, Lil Gertie. I love spending time with my cat and being able to give her attention as well as play with her when she is more likely to let me do that stuff which at night. I love my cat, Lil Gertie, so much. I can not imagine my life with out her.

Besides spending time with my cat, Lil Gertie, I plan on reading the “How to Be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi. So far I have only read the introduction and chapter one. What I have read so far, I think I am going to like the book as well as learn a great deal. Something I want to do as a white person is to become a better ally for people of color. I will also be reading other books of similar nature. Specifically, about race and how I can be a better ally.

I, of course will be doing other things besides reading tonight and that stuff will be doing some form of art as I listen to a podcast. Not sure what type of podcast I will be listening to but the art I will most likely be doing tonight is coloring. I really enjoy coloring and listening to podcast.

Before I end this post I want to update you on my dads health as well as my health. My dad is now out of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and on a regular medical floor. This happened today and am so grateful for his improvement. He wants to go home but has to stay in the hospital a few more days. As far as my health issues of a kidney infection and a urinary tract infection (uti); they seem to be getting better with the help of a very strong antibiotic. An antibiotic that is making me nauseous but thankfully I have an anti-nausea med to help with that.

I do not have anything else to say in this blog post. I do want to thank you all for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things. Again, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone has a great rest of their Friday. I also hope everyone has a great weekend. Peace Out, World!!!

A Sleepless in Seattle Type of Night

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World!!! I still haven’t been back to bed since the fire alarm went of because someone burnt food. I am tired as hell and most likely will attempt to go back to sleep. My anxiety and PTSD symptoms have been acting up quite severely since the fire alarm went off. They are acting up so badly that it is affecting my ability to calm down enough to be able to sleep. The insomnia isn’t help much either.

The thing that is helping me at the moment is my cat, Lil Gertie. She has a calming effect on me and that is extremely helpful. My cat has been by my side most of the morning after the fire alarm went off. I am grateful she has been near by as it has been quite helpful for me to be able to calm down.

One of the things I have been doing since I was so rudely woke up is coloring. I have been coloring my coloring pages. One of which I have shared with you here on my blog. I am hoping that with my coloring pages that I am currently doing that they will be done by the holidays as I want to be able to give them as gifts to people.

When I started off coloring, I listened to music. I listened to Nirvana, MxPX and Tori Amos. For some reason listening to the above mentioned musicians was and is quite helpful to me. I find their music relaxing.

After listening to music and still coloring I decided to listen to a podcast about philosophy. Coloring while listening to a podcast about philosophy not only helps me focus on the topic but to retain the subject. I of course find the subject of philosophy quite interesting and am grateful to be able to listen to a podcast about it as I color.

I don’t have much else to say in this blog post. Thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope to be able to get some sleep today as well as go see my dad in the hospital. I did talk to him this morning already and seemed to be doing okay. I hope everyone has a great day ahead as well as a relaxing day ahead. Peace Out, World!!!