Tag Archives: Inspiration

Everyday Inspiration; Day 4: A Story in a Single Image

Posted on by Gertie
A woman in the woods. (Not me in the picture.)

Walking through the woods is in itself a mindfulness meditation practice. Being one with nature can help with ones stress level. For me personally, being nature like walking in the woods like the woman in picture helps me deal with many of the symptoms of my mental health challenges. Oh how I wish I could go walk through the woods on the weekly basis but sadly it is not an option. Being in the woods or any form of nature put a person at peace and is a form of self-care. Self-care in nature is key to dealing with stress. Oh how I wish I could be back walking through the peaceful woods. Glad I had the opportunity to walk through the woods over my birthday weekend.

Everyday Inspiration; Day 3: One Word Inspiration

Posted on by Gertie

HOPE

For me hope is a simple yet loaded word. If it wasn’t for hope, I don’t think I would be typing this post much less alive. Hope comes from many sources but most importantly it comes from within. My cat Billie Dean gives me hope. He gives me hope by just being so adorable and choosing me to adopt him. Billie gives me hope in so many ways that I can not explain it. The hope that is within myself helps me be a better person and allows me to be compassionate toward others. Hope is the reason why I am in recovery from a mental health challenge.

Everyday Inspiration; Day 2: Write A List

Posted on by Gertie

Things I’ve Learned In Recovery

  • Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Skills
  • Setting boundaries
  • The love my family has for me
  • Friends and family I can depend on
  • To not take life too seriously
  • Some days are going to be tougher than other days and that is okay
  • Mistakes are teachable moments as well as lessons learned
  • It’s okay if the only I thing do is get out of bed; some days are going to be like that
  • Helping others helps me; but make sure I put myself first or I might not be able to help others in a health way
  • Working helps me with my recovery and gives me a sense of purpose
  • Volunteering not only helps with my depression and other diagnosis it helps the community at large
  • Building a community the accepts me as me
  • Being in more that one community is a good thing
  • Having an emotional support animal (ESA) to take care  to help with depression (currently my cat, Billie Dean)
  • Doing self care is not selfish

Everyday Inspiration; Day 1: I Write Because…

Posted on by Gertie

I write for various reasons. Take this my blog for example. I blog to educate those who don’t have lived experience with a mental health challenge and/or substance use disorder in hopes to end the stigma that is associated with mental health and substance use. I also blog to give other people hope in their recovery. I may not have a substance use disorder but I hope that my recovery with mental health, self-harm and eating disorders can be of inspiration to those who struggle with substance use disorders. Another reason I blog and didn’t realize this till about three years after starting my blog is that it helps with my own mental health.

So, I guess, the reason I blog in hopes that with me sharing my journey that it will lessen the stigma of mental health challenges and substances use disorders as well as give others who struggle some form of hope. Being in recovery is not easy but it is well worth it. I just hope my blog can help lessen the stigma of mental health challenges and substance use disorders as well as give others hope. Thank you for listening.

Idea’s About Blogging

Posted on by Gertie

Good Afternoon, World!!! I have been thinking a great deal about blogging on the more regular basis. If you been reading my blog regularly, you are aware that I attempt to post Weekly Plans every Sunday morning as well as post Weekly Check-Ins every Saturday evening. I do this in attempt to keep you my reader interested in reading my blog. On that note, I want not only improve my blogging skills but switch things up by enrolling in four of WordPress’s free courses. The courses I signed up for are; Intro to Poetry, Finding Everyday Inspiration, Developing Your Eye I and Developing Your Eye II.

I signed up for these course just over a week ago. In fact I already started the courses and have been participating however I have scheduled the post from the courses. I am scheduling them just in case a get a some form of writers block or a creative block or in the case of the photography course can’t find the right shot or picture. I know it seems weird to schedule post but when it comes to something like this then I think it is okay. I don’t normally schedule my post which is why it seems weird o me. It will fifty days in a row of post from the four courses I am taking. In fact the scheduled posting starts tomorrow March 1st. Don’t worry I will still be doing normal post without scheduling and post immediately.

Another reason why I am choosing to do the four course through WordPress is because, I have found with blogging that it helps with my mental health. I wasn’t expecting that it would help with my mental health or my recovery but it has. In fact I am beyond grateful that blogging has helped with my recovery.

I do not have much more to discuss in this particular blog post. I do want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you do read my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of your Sunday. Peace Out, World!!!

Excited as Hell

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! I realize it has been awhile since I last blogged. A lot has happened and will attempt to catch you up in another blog post as this post is about something I am way excited for.

Every year for the last five years there has been a conference specifically for folks who are Peer Specialist aka Peer Counselors. This year is the fifth annual Peer Pathways Conference in Washington (State). I have been attending since the second annual Peer Pathways Conference. In fact I have been volunteering every year I have attending including this year. The only difference about this conference versus previous years is that it is all virtual due to the pandemic. Anyway, I am looking forward to the conference.

I am looking forward to the conference more so this year as one of the people who has inspired me will be one of the keynote speakers. That person is Elyn Saks the author of The Center Cannot Hold. A friend of mine suggested to me about eight to ten years ago to read the book and I did. Since after reading Elyn Saks memoir she has been an inspiration to me ever since. I am so excited. I am looking forward to it.

I do not have much more to say in this post. I do want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you do read my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone has a great week ahead of them. Peace Out, World!!!

Everyday Inspiration; Day 9: Writing & Not Writing

Posted on by Gertie

Today’s assignment is in regards to writing and what I as person does when I am not writing. I don’t know if I do anything different from everybody else on the everyday basis. I eat, sleep, work, chores and do everyday adulting.

As far as doing other things I play the flute. I am not any good at it. When I say I am not any good at playing the flute, I mean I am not good enough to make money off of playing the flute. Music is major part of my life and I personally think if it wasn’t for music I wouldn’t have a high school diploma. Being in marching and concert band in high school is what helped me stay and graduate high school.

Another thing that I do when I am not writing is art work. I do various forms of art. Specifically, I mainly color, paint and some collaging. I even do a combination of the type of art I do. Art helps me release emotions I am unable to express with words.

Last but not least, when I am not writing, I spend time with my cat, Lil Gertie. My cat, Lil Gertie is everything to me. She has been a major blessing in my life and am forever grateful for her. I do not know what I would do without her. She is such a sweet and loving cat. She gives me unconditional love and all she wants back is attention and wet food which I am happy to give her.

Well, I do not know what else to write about so I guess I will end this blog post. I want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things. I hope everyone has a good weekend. Peace Out, World!!!

Everyday Inspiration; Day 8: Reinvent the Letter Format

Posted on by Gertie

Dear Abuser,

This is the part of the letter I would say hello and ask how you are doing but you don’t deserve any of that. You don’t deserve it because of all the shit you put me through as a child. Hell, I am still feeling the affects of what I experienced at your hands. What you put me through as a child has caused me to become angry and led to a diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD) which is absolutely no fun. Having to relive what I experienced at your hands when I was child and now reliving as an adult is scary as fuck. I am beyond angry with you and the many times you have harmed me.

The only good things that came out of you harming me is the ability to play music on the flute and art. If it wasn’t for both art and music my life would be a whole lot different. Art and music has given me an outlet to deal with the traumatic events I experienced at your hands.

I don’t have much more to tell you except that you are an absolute asshole and deserve to be in prison for the rest of your life. Sadly, you never had the opportunity to experience that kind of justice because I was too scared to do so.

Angerly  Yours,

Gertie

Everyday Inspiration; Day 7: Let Social Media Inspire You

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World!!! Today’s assignment is to let social media inspire a post. We were given a choice of five tweets from Twitter to write about. Sadly, none of those tweets from Twitter have inspired me to write. So, I thought I would go to my twitter account to see if I could get inspired from any tweets there and again wasn’t inspired. Since I wasn’t inspired by anything on Twitter I decided to go to Facebook.

As far as Facebook I really wasn’t inspired. I wasn’t inspired from Facebook because of the anger and hate from various people especially in Facebook groups. It seems that most of the hate and anger involves politics. People think that they can be cruel when it comes to being on the internet and social media. People wouldn’t say most of the shit face to face to someone as they do on social media. The worst topic that invokes peoples anger and hate is politics. Politics get people heated and when people get heated they tend to not be able to listen to the other persons side. Not being heard can cause even more anger. I just get aggravated when people start attacking each other especially if it is something people wouldn’t say or do face to face.

Well, I guess social media did inspire me to write about something but it is a topic I need to not discuss write now because I am livid about some things I saw on Facebook. I think I am going to end this blog post. I want to thank you for reading my blog from the bottom of my heart. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things because if it wasn’t for you my reader, I don’t think I would continue to blog. So, thank you again for reading my blog. I hope you all have a great day. Peace Out, World!!!

Everyday Inspiration; Day 6: The Space to Write

Posted on by Gertie

Hello, World!!! Today’s assignment for WordPress’s Finding Everyday Inspiration course is asking about the space we write in. For me the space I write in varies on a number of factors. It various on what type of thing I am writing as well as what type of mood I am in and what I use to write with.

For instance when I write in regards to my blog I write on my laptop which means, I am usually home. There are times when I am not home when I blog and usually that is when I am out of town so I most likely would be in a hotel room when I blog if out of town. When I write for my blog it is always via my laptop.

As far as other types of writing, I really think it all depends on what type of mood I am in. When it comes to writing in regards to journaling, I have a journal, I write in and most of the time write with a pencil. I am not sure why I prefer pencil over pen when journaling but I do. When it comes to where I journal it all depends on if I am needing to journal to help me regulate my emotions and if I have the place and emotional space to do so. Most of the time I find a place to do so. I usually like to journal outside as it gives me a different perspective on things.

When it comes to writing poetry I usually do it with a paper and pencil or on my laptop. Using paper and pencil or my laptop makes it easier to changes things in the poem if it doesn’t seem right to me. When it comes to where I write, I think it is dependent on what inspires me to write poetry. I do have a journal I keep my poetry in and that is when I transfer it to the journal in pen.

As far as writing letters goes, I think it all depends if it is a business letter or personal letter. When it is a business letter I type it on my laptop. When it is a personal letter I tend to write it with a paper and pen. Sometimes I even write on a postcard. I tend to write letters from home or in a hotel if I am out of town. When I get a chance to travel out of town any where even if its only two hours from where I live I like to write letters and/or postcards to people as it is always nice to receive snail mail.

The latest type of writing includes a combination of drawing, coloring and writing in the form of comics. I start out with paper and a pencil just in case I make a mistake or want to change something. After I am done with the comic, then ink it and color it. I started doing comics when I took an art class about comics. In fact doing comics is another form of art for me to do that includes writing. As to where I do this is dependent on my mood and what stage of the comic I am doing.

Before, I end this post and assignment, I was asked as apart of the assignment to ask you my reader to give me suggestion via my contact page on what you would like me to write about. It is for a future assignment. It would be greatly appreciated if you could help me out on this as it is for an assignment and it would also help me out for future post that is not related to an assignment. I would like to know what you would like me to write about even when I am not doing a WordPress course.

I do not have much more to say in the post. I am sorry I was so long winded in this post but apparently I was inspired about what I write and where I write. I want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things. Again, thank you for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!