Tag Archives: Employment

Underdog, No More

Posted on by Gertie

The Superbowl and the Eagles winning the Superbowl had me thinking. Had me thinking about my own life. A life worth living is a life worth fighting for. The Eagle fought like hell to win the Superbowl so I need to fight like hell for my recovery. A recovery that I’ve already have been fighting for and will continue to do so.

For me I’ve been an underdog my whole life because of my learning disabilities, mental health conditions/challenges, sexual orientation and gender identity. With all that I just mentioned, I’ve been the underdog my whole life. I’m still considered an “underdog” yet I’m advocating for myself to be the success I want to be in my life. A success I’ve had before and know I will have once again.

I guess, I am saying is I’m not going to be the victim any more and most definitely won’t be the underdog, no more. For me that will be advocating for myself. I will be advocating for others as well. I wont allow myself to be an underdog no more.

Thank you for reading. I hope the rest of your Sunday is a peaceful one. Goodnight and Peace Out, World!!!

Life, The Challenges & Silver Linings

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World!!! Its been a tough week for my family. My grandma is going into hospice care and we are attempting the best we can to keep it together for her. My grandma is a strong woman. She keeps giving me “talks” to make sure I go to my job interviews next week.

I am looking forward the possibility of going back to work. I’ve been missing being able to go to work. I really think being able to go to work helps with my mental health or at least the structure that goes with it. Being out of work has you think how much structure one must have to be able to not get so depressed or at least that is how it is for me. Work also gives me the social aspect of life. So for me work helps a great deal with a multiple of things in my life.

Life brings the bad and the good. Sometimes at the same time like at the moment. As life continues I am looking at the silver lining in things. Its difficult at time however it is possible. Yes, I am being realistic about my grandma however I know she wants me to look at the silver lining.

Thank you the reading. Have a great weekend. Peace Out, World!!!

Therapy & Job Opportunities

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! Today, I had therapy with Gilbert. We discussed how I have been improving with my mental health. He agrees that things are going well and that he see’s that I’ve been working like hell to get back to my baseline. We also discussed how we both think that it would be wise for me to go back to work.

Which leads me to my next topic of job opportunities. I applied to multiple jobs and had an interview yesterday and have three next week. I’m looking forward to the interviews next week. One is at my previous employer and will be interviewing for two jobs at the same time. The other job interview is going to be at an agency that is pro peer. Which is really good.

Thank you for reading my blog. Have a great evening everyone. Peace Out, World!!

Middle of the Night Ramblings

Posted on by Gertie

Hello, World!!! I am tired and really should try to get some sleep. I’ve been up worrying about my grandma. She’s in critical condition at a local hospital. She had a procedure done to put her heart back into a normal rhythm and now she is on a ventilator. The procedure is done without a hitch a great deal of the time but because my grandma has Parkinson’s and her age it got complicated. My grandma is a strong woman and I know she will do what is best for her to make it through. She is my hero.

I know whatever happens to my grandma, she would want me to continue being the person I am despite her “not being a big fan” of my purple hair. I had a phone interview with a mental health agency for a peer support position. I have a second interview with them in person this Friday. I also have another in person interview at a different agency next Tuesday. I’m looking forward to getting back to work.

I need to get going and try to get some sleep. I hope everyone sleeps well tonight. Thanks, for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!

A Day of Information

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World!!! Today is a going to be a day of “information” for those of us that live in the United States. What I mean by that is that this evening is the State of the Union address. I rarely watch them because its the same bullshit every year.

Something that won’t be the same bullshit for me today is that I will be having a phone interview. I’ve never had a phone interview before and hope that I do well on the interview. It’s for a peer specialist job. I am looking forward to the future and have hope.

Having hope is a major deal for everyone especially for those who are in recovery. Recovery is something that is really important for me. Being in recovery no matter how tough it may be is well worth it. It means I’m living a life worth living.

Thank you for reading. Peace, Out World!!!

The Start of a Good Day

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World!!! Good News is that I got a relatively good nights sleep no matter how little I did sleep. I’m grateful that I got some good sleep.

Not only am I starting off the day with some good sleep, I’m going to be having breakfast with some former colleagues at Biscuit Bitch. Biscuit Bitch is near my old employer and people who work where I worked get a discount there. Biscuit Bitch serves biscuits and gravy. Their biscuits and gravy some of the best I’ve had especially since it reminds me when lived in Nashville for a year in my early twenties. Southern food such as biscuits and gravy seems to be yummy. Well all of it except grits.

As much as I am looking forward to breakfast with former colleagues, I’m hoping to hear back from potential employers. I’ve been applying to Peer Specialist jobs as well as similar jobs so I can hopefully go back to work. I don’t know if I’m 100% ready to go back to work especially full time but its worth a shot to at least get an interview or two.

I’m realizing what the time is and should start getting ready to go as I don’t want to be late meeting up wit former colleagues before they start work. I hope everyone has a great day at work. Peace Out, World!!!

Ramblings About The Day & Friends

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! Today, was a sunny, crisp, cold day in Seattle. Extremely beautiful out yet way too cold for my liking however it’s always nice when it’s sunny outside this time of year.

I spent some of the day with a close friend. We had lunch and went rollerblading around a local lake at a park. It was nice spending time with a friend despite the both of us being cold at the end of rollerblading. I’m just happy that I have friends who are there for me through the good, the bad and the ugly. Many people would have just walked a way or distanced themselves when the symptoms of my mental health conditions reared their ugly head yet I have friends that don’t do that. I am forever grateful for those friends.

On that note, we then have those “friends” who are more like acquaintances and sometimes not even that. An example of such a friend happened today as well. I get a call from a local community mental health agency saying a particular person is using me as a professional and personal reference for a job. The thing about this is, is that this individual never even asked me if I would be a reference for them. I never really worked with this person and have only attended peer specialist/counseling related trainings with them as well never really staying in touch with them outside of trainings unless it involved other training. In reality I couldn’t be a reference for this person. I informed the person on the other end of the phone that I couldn’t give a reference of any kind as I don’t know the individual well enough and explained to them on how know the person we were discussing. The person on the other end of the phone was “grateful” for my “honesty” and that I wasn’t the only one “surprised” by being a reference. I realize that me informing the potential employer about this person that I really don’t them could cost them this particular job in their chosen career however it could look bad on me if the person didn’t work out especially if I ever want to work at this particular mental health agency. I know that sounds selfish but if I don’t know the person to give any type of reference, I don’t want to look bad.

Now on to another form of friendship. This more of romantic relationship. Right now as I write this post, Junior, is making dinner for the both of us. He is making homemade mac & cheese, ham, corn, and homemade peach cobbler. I love Junior and the support he has given me. He is an amazing person as well as an amazing partner.

Thank you for reading about my ramblings of the day. I hope you have a good rest of your evening. Peace Out!!!

An Opportunity I Couldn’t Say No To

Posted on by Gertie

It’s been just over two weeks since I last blogged. I have usual excuses as of lately, which are: my symptoms were acting up or I was not in a good head space. Both of which are true but there have been times where I could have blogged.

One of those times I could have blogged was last Monday at this time. I was at the train station waiting for a train and I arrived three hours early by accident. I arrived three hours early because I thought my train left two hours earlier than it was scheduled to be. I was bored and I could have blogged as I waited for my train but didn’t.

I bet you’re wondering where I was going on the train. I know I would be wondering where someone was going if they were writing (or talking) about arriving at a train station two hours early. I will tell you where I was going.

I was offered a scholarship to attend a conference at the last minute. Not just any conference but conference specifically geared toward peer specialist here in Washington State. As badly as my symptoms were acting up I knew if I turned down the scholarship of attending the peer conference that I would regret it. I am beyond grateful that I attended and the only thing that it cost me was the train ticket to get there and back.

Attending the conference was just what I needed. It gave me the hope I need to help me with my recovery. Hell, not just my recovery but my career as well when I go back to work when things improve. It helped me a great deal with me getting refocused on what I need to, to get back on track. Things to help with my recovery and career as well as maybe some educational opportunities. In fact attending the conference was educational in it of itself.

We all know education can help with ones career. I hope that one day I will be able to get more of education to help with my career but that’s not what today is about. Today is about those who worked their asses off to get what they need to help themselves and the rest of us get better working conditions. Those people are the individuals that were apart of the Labor Movement. With out those fine individuals in the Labor Movement we wouldn’t have today; Labor Day. To those individuals working this Labor Day, thank for working today.

As I go and enjoy my Labor Day and end this post, I hope that I will post at later time about the peer conference. I learned a great deal there and would like to share my knowledge. I hope everyone has a good week. Happy Labor Day. Peace Out!!!

Hump Day Hopes & Difficulties

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! It is still Hump Day in my part of the world. Well, technically its still Wednesday but I like to call it Hump Day because its exactly in the middle of the week we are over the hump of the week.

The week thus far has been both filled with hopes and difficulties all wrapped up into the same event. So, yesterday (Tuesday) and Monday I went to the WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan) 1 seminar which is a two day seminar to be able to attend the WRAP 2 seminar to become a WRAP facilitator. The WRAP 2 seminar is a five day course and hope to be able to attend it next month. Anyway, doing your own WRAP can be emotionally exhausting but well worth it. The last two days I nearly finished updating my WRAP which I am proud of especially since its been almost a year since my last update. Taking the two day WRAP seminar has given me the hope that I’ve needed to turn my recovery around to be able to find a purpose in my life.

With the hope that the WRAP seminar has given me, I’ve realized that difficulties, I am still having in my life currently. In fact I discussed the hopes and difficulties with my relatively new therapist today in our session. I showed her my WRAP and looked over it. In fact she wanted to make copies of it so it could be my “crisis plan” since its more person and recovery focused than the crisis plans the agency I am a consumer at are. I told her I would be more than willing for her to do so once I am finished with updating my WRAP.

Not only did my therapist and I discuss WRAP, we discussed how my first Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) group went. I told her it went well and showed her my diary card.  As we discussed DBT and WRAP I started crying as I was feeling inadequate because I am not in a place in my life I am desiring to be at due to trying to get back into a good space in my recovery. A place to where I can go back to work.

When my therapist and I got on the topic of work I discussed with her about the two main reasons I took the WRAP 1 seminar. The first reason was to update my WRAP and get back into a recovery state of mind. The second reason is so I could take the WRAP 2 seminar for five days so I could become a WRAP facilitator. Becoming a WRAP facilitator will be great on the résumé and will be quite helpful for me in my career plans on going back into the mental health field.

The cool thing about my session today with my therapist is I found out that she will be a strong advocate for me and my treatment just like Diana was before she got sick. I was even expecting my therapist to bring up the topic of advocacy and being an advocate for me. Just like Diana, she informed me that she will be an advocate for me no matter what however, I also need to advocate for myself appropriately as well as be able to empower myself. She used me updating my WRAP as both self-empowerment and self-advocacy.

As difficult as things are, I am starting to see some hope. Or at least a small tiny light at the end of the of the tunnel. As I end this post, I want to let everyone know that no matter how difficult things are at the moment, things will get better. It might take longer than you want it to, like in my case but things will get better. Things do take time and sometimes they are longer than expected. Have a good rest of your evening everyone and Peace Out!!!

Just Sitting Here Pondering

Posted on by Gertie

As I sit here pondering about life, I can’t help but hope that things will start improving. Improving in regards to my mental health conditions. I guess what I am saying is that even though I am still feeling shitty, I am making some progress but not enough to do the things I want to do.

One of the things I want to get back to more than anything is work. For me work gives me a purpose in life even if its not a job I like. An example of a job I didn’t like was when I worked as a Courtesy Clerk (bagger) at a major grocery store chain for nine and half years. Then again, I don’t know if I could ever go back to working a job I don’t think I could at least like after experiencing having two positions in the mental health field that I loved with a passion. I realize that no matter how much one loves their job that there will be bad days at work.

As I talk about my desire to get back to work, I realized that I found out that my career path is meant to be in the mental health field. This leads me to wanting to get an education. An education that is related to the mental health field. It is my hope to go back to school to get my Associates in Applied Science Degree in Social and Human Services at local community college and hope to transfer to their Bachelors of Applied Behavioral Science Degree program.  Although, I have no plans of becoming a Peer Supervisor or even a Mental Health Case Manager at this point in time, it will give me the opportunity to do so in the future as well as make me more employable as a Peer Specialist.  Ultimately, I want to get a Masters in Social Work (MSW) but right now I just need to focus on getting my Associates Degree. Yes, I realize if I get Bachelors of Social Work (BSW), I could get advanced standing a MSW program however I’ve done the a math and it will ultimately cheaper for me to get my both my Associates and Bachelors degree’s at a community college than to transfer to a four year college or university. Now, I’m getting ahead of myself. I just need to focus on getting into school to get my Associates Degree.

As I focus on getting into school, I also need to focus on my mental health and get back to being stable. I see my therapist on Tuesday after not seeing her for three weeks due to her being on vacation. The jury is still out on my new therapist but things are going good thus far. From the way I see things, she appears to care. It also appears that she wants me to succeed but I’ve only seen her a half dozen time since April. I’m going to ask her if she could give me therapy related homework as I think it might help me in the long run but I think it could help me trust her more. Its going to take some time trusting her for a multitude of reason. None of them are on her. I’ve got a lot of shit to work on and hope she is up to the challenge.

Speaking of a challenge, I need to go and eat. I haven’t eaten since yesterday morning. So, I need to end this post and go eat. Have a wonderful evening. Happy Friday and peace out to everyone.