Tag Archives: Blogging

Tough Evening/Night

Posted on by Gertie

Hello, World!!! I’m having a tough go at it at the moment. I’ve been dealing with that fact the my grandma is in hospice care and I’m attempting to process it through journaling and blogging. It appears to be helping.

Reading a history text book and watching TedTalks about history. I feel like I can get some sort of education regarding history. Its helping with getting my mind off of things and wish my family and I weren’t dealing with all this but its the reality we are dealing with.

Reality can suck shit but it can be wonderful at the same time. For example my grandma told me today if I don’t go to my job interviews and Tuesday and Wednesday that when she goes, she will haunt me to the day I die and then haunt me after death. I got to love my grandma. She’s facing death yet she is still using her humor.

Thank you for reading. I hope everyone has a good evening/night. Peace Out, World!!!

A Lot on My Mind

Posted on by Gertie

Good Moring (again), World!!! I have a lot on my mind. Some of it has to do with blogging, while some of it has to do with other aspects of my life. The two kind of go hand and hand as my blog has a lot to do with me writing about my struggles and triumphs of my life.

I’ve been thinking on how I can get more people reading and/or following my blog. Some of it means that I have to put more effort into reading the post of the blogs I follow. If that means scheduling a time do so then I am more than willing to do so. The reason for me to start reading the blogs I follow is to like post and commenting on them. I have found that if I comment and/or like post I tend to get more traffic even if I don’t post on my blog that day. Another way is to get more traffic on my blog is tags. I’ve notice quite frequently that if I use tags I normally don’t use I tend to get more traffic. Tags appear to help a great deal. I know that is how I started following many of the blogs I currently follow. I also realized a long time ago is that if I post a picture on my blog post I get more traffic. That’s why I make every effort to read post without pictures. Not everyone has the luxury to post pictures for whatever reason. Another way that I’m trying to increase my traffic is to do free courses WordPress has to offer. Plus having a guest blogger will be helpful as well as me having a schedule on when I blog. I have found that if I blog on a regular basis folks tend to keep their interest more.

My mind is also reeling because of mental health symptoms. Specifically PTSD symptoms. Having flashbacks and body memories are not my idea of fun. Having both of these symptoms at the same time makes it feel like the trauma is happening all over again.

Something that helps me with the symptoms of PTSD is reading. I love to read especially book series as I hate to say good bye to characters. Yes, I know the characters are fictional but you can help but they become part of your life even for a short while. The book I am reading is by Robbin Hobb and is the first of a trilogy; Ship of Magic. I highly recommend it. The picture bellow is a picture of it as well as stuffed elephant a friend made me:

IMG_0244Thank you for reading this post. A post full of woes. Its much appreciated. Have a wonderful day. Happy Friday. Peace Out, World!!!

Another Post About Blogging Sh*t

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World!!! I’ve been thinking about my blog a lot lately. Maybe because I’ve been posting more as of lately and getting my support system to finally follow through on the guest post they will do every other week. It is my hope that I can create a regular schedule on when I will have regular post as well the usual way of how I am already doing thing as posting whenever I feel like it. So the schedule I plan to have is as follows:

Sunday: Weekly Plans. This seems pretty self explanatory. It’s where I plan to tell you what I have planned for the week.

Monday: Weekly Writing prompts. This is where I can write both fiction and nonfiction stories. More or less I hope to be creative in this post as it is my hope for it to be fiction versus nonfiction as I usually write about my own personal experiences.

Tuesday: To Be Determined (TBD)

Wednesday: Guest Post. This is the day where my support system will write what its like to deal with a loved one who has lived experience. The primary guest bloggers will be Junior and Mama Bear. Junior and Mama Bear worked it out to where Junior will post on the first and third Wednesdays of the month and Mama Bear will post on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month. As for the rare fifth Wednesday, I’ll get a special guest. Hopefully, someone who has been an inspiration to me, the peer community or the blogging community.

Thursday: To Be Determined (TBD)

Friday: Fun Facts. Fun Facts will include weird and/or random facts about things around the world as well as about me.

Saturday: Weekly Check-in. This is where I inform you how my week went and what I did. It’s more or less a post about how my week went.

As you can tell I have high hopes regarding keeping a regular schedule with blogging. I don’t want to not post and lose you as reader yet I don’t want to overwhelm you feed or email with too many post. I’m attempting to find a happy medium with blogging.

Something else I am going to do is take free courses that WordPress does. I’ll being doing everything from poetry to photography to inspired writing. I’m doing this in hopes to keep myself interested in blogging as well as you interested in reading my blog.

In fact keeping you my reader interested is why I am creating a schedule as well as having special guest and weekly writing prompts that hopefully will be fictional along with weekly plans and check-ins. Having a blogging schedule will also give me the structure I so desperately need and desire.

Thanks for reading about my blogging woes once again. I need to get going and get ready for the day as I have a doctors appointment with my dermatologist. I hope everyone has a great day and enjoys life. Peace Out, World

Taco Tuesday + People Who Care = Fun Times

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! Today has been a rainy Tuesday here in Seattle and has been a pretty low key day for me. Low key as in not really doing anything regarding attending appointments for my mental health conditions/challenges. In all honesty it’s nice to not have really focus on my mental health or at least when it comes to having to attend appointments, groups and so on.

As I mentioned earlier, its been a rainy day here in Seattle. Its actually not exactly “rain,” its the typical Seattle gloomy drizzle. Even though its the typical Seattle gloomy drizzle, Junior and I are kept low key.

We started off the day with some intimate moments. Intimate moments we haven’t had in quite some time do to my mental health symptoms being so severe. Yes, they are still pretty bad however they a improving. Improving enough that Junior you had not just one intimate moment today but several.

After a day of several intimate moments, Junior and I made dinner for a dinner party. We made the fixings for taco’s. We typically have dinner parties on the weekends however we saw it fitting to have a dinner party involving taco’s on Tuesday in honor of Taco Tuesday. As we had a taco bar with our friends we watched the movie; Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman never gets old. Everyone enjoyed themselves. Fun times were had by everyone.

Thank you for reading about a laid back and relaxing day. I hope everyone has a good rest of the work week. Peace Out, World.

 

Slightly Struggling in Seattle

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! I am struggling at the moment. I’m struggling with self harm urges. I WILL NOT ACT ON MY URGES TO SELF HARM!!! (I AM NOT SUICIDAL!!!) I am struggling because of my Depression and PTSD symptoms. Symptoms I talked to Gilbert about in my session with him today. I’m starting to trust him which is a major deal since he identifies as male. I usually have trouble trusting men especially in the therapeutic relationship.

Gilbert and myself came up with a safety plan. One of the items on the safety plan is blogging. Blogging is quite helpful for me. It helps me get out of my own head.

Gets me out of my head enough to focus on art work. I’m going be focusing on coloring today since I got a new coloring book today. I also have colored pencils I haven’t used yet due to waiting for this coloring book.

Coloring helps me focus to where I will be able to read. I’ll most likely  be reading Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb. I’m really loving the book. If you are a Sci Fi and/or Fantasy genre fan I highly recommend it.

Now that I’ve told you my safety plan, I’m going to go and eat. I want to reassure you that; I’M NOT SUICIDAL & WON’T ACT ON MY URGES TO SELF HARM. I hope everyone has a good evening and good week. Peace Out, World.

A Long Yet Productive Day

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! It’s been a long yet productive day. I started off the day with blogging my weekly check-in before heading to the Women’s March. I, of course got to the start of the march early. So, I read.

I am reading the Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb. In fact Ms. Hobb is from the Pacific Northwest (PNW) and still lives in the Washington State. So far I am enjoying the book. I’m only on chapter six but so far so good. I hope to be able to do a book review on Ship of Magic however I can’t promise I will because I might forget to do so.

The march went well. As far as I know there weren’t any issues here in Seattle. I saw many people I know including extended family I hadn’t seen in years. I marched with my dad’s cousin, his friends as well as a number of my friends, and former colleagues. It felt good marching with people from all aspects of my life.

After the march I went and volunteered at the Warm Line. I was the only one on tonight and was “encouraged” to go home early by one of the supervisors of the Crisis Line so I did. It felt good being able to help others even though I was by myself. Being to help others always makes me feel happy and good about myself.

Everything I did today was helpful to my recovery and mental health symptoms despite it being a long ass day. I don’t regret doing anything I did today. In fact when it comes to regrets my the quote I live by is: “When I look back on life, I rather regret the things I did than the things I didn’t do.” I’m not sure who said that but I try to live by it.

As always, I appreciate all of you reading my blog. I hope everyone has a great evening. Peace Out, World!!!

Therapy, Education, Books, Religion & Recovery

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! I saw my temporary therapist today. We discussed a melt down I had earlier today in day treatment at my request. My therapist and I talked about what I could have done differently. We came up with some wonderful ideas collectively and I am happy with what we came up with.

My therapist and I also discussed me going back to school and how it could affect my disability checks. To find out it wont affect it all. He will help me fill out the proper paper work to get money such as grants and/or scholarships. I’ll start out taking one class at a time to see how things go. I plan to go to a local community college that offers both two and four year degrees. I plan on getting an Associates of Applied Science degree in Social and Human Services and then transfer to their (the community college) Bachelor’s of Applied Science degree in Applied Behavior Science. My therapist likes the idea on how I am setting small goals with my education to ultimately reach my bigger educational goals. I am hoping that one day to get my Masters in Social Work from either the University of Washington (UW) or Smith College.

Another topic my therapist and discussed was my blog and blogging. We talked about giving him pseudo name. My therapist “doesn’t care” if I use his real name however out of respect for his former, current (counting me) and future clients I am choosing to give him a pseudo name. He “respects” my choice in giving him a pseudo name. I am going to give him the pseudo name of Gilbert. The name Gilbert in the name of one of my favorite characters in one of my favorite books; Anne of Green Gables. Yes, Gilbert is being named after the character, Gilbert Blythe of Anne of Green Gables. So, when the name Gilbert comes up in any of my post, I am talking about my temporary therapist.

Changing the topic drastically, I am switching it to religion. Earlier this evening I met with the Mormon missionaries. In fact the missionaries I met with were female which is unusual but not all that uncommon especially in a major metropolitan area. We discussed Joseph Smith and all that jazz regarding the Mormon faith. I was upfront with two young ladies that I most likely wont join their church but might visit it on occasion. They were “thrilled” that I was “being honest” with them about that.

Now switching back to the topic of recovery. It appears that my recovery is starting get back on track. I am saying this because I finally have hope back and I am being future oriented. Both are very good signs in recovery.

Speaking of recovery part of mine is making sure I eat on the regular basis and I am realizing I haven’t had dinner yet. That means I’m going to end this post and get some food. Thank you for reading. It’s very much appreciated. Peace Out, World!!!

Everyday Inspiration; Day 20: Wrap It Up

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World!!! It’s the final day of Finding Everyday Inspiration. Today’s assignment has given me a handful of prompts to end this final assignment. I’m not sure if I’m exactly going to do the prompts. If I happen to answer a prompt or two with this last assignment that it happens.

Just like that last time I took this course, I fun with it. It’s helped me get back in the grove of blogging once again. In fact I plan on doing the Intro To Poetry course that WordPress does. I think I will wait a few days before I start it as I might need a break for a day or two. This course has helped me get back into the grove of things in regards to blogging.

Thank you for reading. It is my hope that you continue to read what I have to say. Peace Out!!!

 

Everyday Inspiration; Day 15: Take a Cue from Your Reader

Posted on by Gertie

Good Afternoon, World!!! Today’s assignment for Finding Your Everyday Inspiration is to take a cue from you my reader. A few days ago I asked you to give me some suggestions. I didn’t get as many suggestions as I would have liked however I did get some.

It appears from what I received from the feedback I got is that the answers were all different however one thing everyone was in agreement with. That something is to continue with what I do in regards to sharing my journey. I guess it gives people “hope” even those individuals who “don’t struggle with mental illness.”

Another common theme amongst most of the feedback I received was the education piece of my blog. The part of my blog that I’ve pretty much failed to do. Something, I hope to start doing it again. It is my plan to start it no later than the New Year (2018). Yes, I realize that the New Year is two and half months away but it gives me time to do research. Research that realistically will be hindered by the upcoming holidays which is why I’m giving myself two and half months. An idea I have is to get suggestions from you on what type of educational topics you would like me to discuss regarding anything to do with mental health (i.e. Treatments, Peers, Clinicians, Diagnosis).

Education and sharing my personal journey may have been a common theme amongst the suggestions, I received however I got some ideas that are all great. Some are a little bit controversial however those topics are necessary to the subjects of mental health and/or a persons recovery.

One such controversial topic is one’s faith, spirituality, and/or religion. One thing that is in agreement among those who have a mental health diagnosis is that one’s faith is key to one’s recovery. Yes, faith or religion can be a controversial topic however spirituality is a topic that needs to be continued to be discussed. Discussed so those who don’t have lived experience know that it plays a major role in recovery and the treatment they may need and/or desire.

Another such controversial topic is politics. Politics play a major role in mental health. Maybe not directly to one’s diagnosis but in other ways. Ways that it could and have effected those with a mental health diagnosis. In one such political topic related to mental health is health care. Having the proper health care and insurance is key to one’s recovery and treatment.

Since we are on the topic of health care someone did bring up the topic of it and how both mental health and physical health can effect each other. This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. It’s near and dear to my heart for many reason and I am more than sure that when the physical health topic is brought up again, those reasons will be more clear.

As I end this particular post, I want to remind you that if you have any suggestions on any topics or educational topics related to mental health you will like me to bring up, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I want to thank you for reading. I hope everyone has a great rest of their day. Peace Out!!!

Everyday Inspiration; Day 6: The Space to Write

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World!!! Today’s “assignment” is to write about the space I write in. In all honesty, I think it the space I write in is dependent on a variety of factors. Such factors include what I am writing about, the head space I am in and the location I am at. I do however write (when it comes to my blog) on my laptop. When it comes to blogging I am usually on my laptop with a couple of exceptions yet, I’m not going to get into that right now.

For the most part, I blog from my living room or Junior’s living room while sitting on the couch. On some occasions from my bedroom or Junior’s bedroom while in bed.  If I’m blogging from the bedroom I’m usually not in a good head space.

My ideal place to write anything is by a body of water. Writing by water there usually isn’t Wi-Fi so I usually don’t blog around water. I am lucky enough that I live in a city located by a lot of water and am able to get Wi-Fi a good portion of the time. I write a lot of my poetry when I am near water or in nature. I tend to be more creative when I’m in nature and for few days after being in nature.

Now that I’ve informed you about my writing habits as part of my “assignment” another part of it is to ask you my reader something. That something is for another assignment later on in “Finding Your Everyday Inspiration” course. The question is what would you my reader like for me to write about? Would you like more educational stuff regarding mental health diagnosis and/or treatments? Would you like to hear from people who know me well and how they deal with me when I am doing well and not so well? What subject manner would you like me to discuss? Please let me know via my contact page or in the comment section of my blog.

Again thank you for reading. I greatly appreciate you reading my blog. Have a great Tuesday, everyone!!! Peace Out, World!!!