2026 New Year’s Goals

Good Morning and Happy New Year’s World!!! I know it has been New Years for three days now and I apologize for not posting sooner. Hell, I haven’t posted in a while. As always, I have goals to work on in the New Year that tend to change throughout the year. Some are the same as last year due to not completing the goals or just wanting to continue improving myself. I don’t do resolutions as I tend to not accomplish them which is why I do goals as I am more likely to accomplish and achieve them.

My 2026 goals are as follows:

  • Clean apartment and keep it clean
  • Continue mental health treatment
  • Continue seeing my primary care provider on the regular basis
  • Continue working at my current job
  • Continue volunteering at Cat City and Alley Cat Project (ACP)
  • Attend weekly 12 step meetings
  • Do at least two recovery related workbooks
  • Learn about tarot cards
  • Learn about Buddhism
  • Do self-paced Bible Study
  • Read at least four books
  • Do at least three diamond art/painting
  • Color at least two giant coloring posters
  • Do daily meditation

I do not have anything else to discuss or share or to write about in this particular blog post. I want to wish you the reader of my blog a Happy New Year. I do want to thank you the reader 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!!!

Daily Prompt; Was Today Typical?

Daily writing prompt
Was today typical?

So far it has been a typical day for me. It is only nine o’clock in the morning here in Seattle so I can only say that so far it has been a typical day. I do my mindfulness meditation practice this morning. I also did my morning walk. Thankfully it was not raining but it sure was cold. I then came home to shower and eat breakfast. I then cuddled with my cat, Billie like I always do. Now, I am blogging and afterwards I will go see my psychiatric nurse practitioner and then go get my meds. So, yes so far it has been a typical day.

Daily Prompt; What Gives You Direction in Life?

Daily writing prompt
What gives you direction in life?

Many people and things give me direction in life. In fact my family gives me inspiration even though they are quite dysfunctional some of the time. Well the majority of the time my family is dysfunctional. My friends also give me direction in my life. Friends and family have helped a great deal with giving me direction in my life.

Another thing that helps give me direction in my life is my meditation practice as well my new faith in Buddhism or at least what I am learning about Buddhism. I am grateful for learning about Buddhism.

Of course my recovery and my cat help me give direction in my life.

Making the Best of a Sleepless Night in Seattle

Good Morning, World!!! I am having trouble sleeping due to insomnia. Since I am unable to sleep I have been keeping myself busy. I have done a handful of mindfulness meditation practices through the Calm App. I have even attempted to fall asleep to two of the sleep stories the Calm App. has. I am usually able to fall asleep after a sleep story but sadly that did not happen but I am okay with that.

I am okay with it because I am learning two new languages through the Duolingo app. I started learning Spanish a couple of weeks ago. Part of the reason why I am learning Spanish is because I spent the first 16 years of my life in California and have wanted to learn it for the longest time as many people I grew up with speak Spanish. Another reason why I want to learn Spanish is because both my partner and best friend speak Spanish. Plus one of my uncles on my dads side was a Spanish teacher. So, I have many people to help me with learning Spanish. I also decided to learn German yesterday evening when I found out my new next door neighbor knows German and I am able to practice with her. I also have a good friend who knows German as she spoke both English and German in her home growing. So I can practice with my friend and new neighbor. Part of the reason why I want to learn German is because I have some German in my heritage. I am hoping that once I get comfortable speaking fluently in either Spanish or German then I can start learning another language. I am not sure if I will learn another language that is a part of my heritage like German is or another common “foreign” language that is frequently spoken in the United States especially here in the Seattle area which could be one of the many Asian languages.

Besides learning German and Spanish tonight, I have been doing some art. Specifically the art I am doing is diamond painting. While doing diamond painting I have been listening to a philosophy podcast called Philosphize This which is a really good podcast. I really like how Stephen West does his podcast and gears to the average person because that is how I think he learned. So I am doing some art as I learn about philosophy.

I have also been cuddling with my cat, Billie through most of what I have been doing tonight to keep busy. Billie loves being cuddled and gives me some weird facial expressions when I try to speak Spanish to him. Hell, when I practiced German words on my cat, Billie he gave me some grumpy looks. I love how my cat, Billie puts up with me and cuddles even when I am doing art and attempting to speak to him two different languages.

With the weather they way it is right now in Seattle which is yucky and stormy it was the perfect night to do the stuff I did since I am unable to sleep. I am hoping to fall asleep soon as the wind and rain is soothing to me. With that being said, I want to thank you, the reader for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you the reader, read my blog because if you were not 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

Sunday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk (most likely with my partner or friend)
  • Work on a recovery related workbook
  • Diamond art/painting
  • Read
  • Cuddle with my cat, Billie

Monday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk (most likely with my partner or friend)
  • Work on a recovery related workbook
  • Work on DVR paperwork
  • Diamond art/painting
  • Read
  • Cuddle with my cat, Billie

Tuesday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk (most likely with a friend)
  • Work on DVR paperwork
  • Work on a recovery related workbook
  • Diamond art/painting
  • Read
  • Cuddle with my cat, Billie

Wednesday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk (most likely with partner or friend)
  • Volunteer at Cat City
  • Work on DVR paperwork
  • Work on recovery related workbook
  • Read
  • Diamond art/painting
  • Cuddle with my cat, Billie

Thursday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk (most likely with partner or friend)
  • Attend appointment with Employment Specialist regarding DVR and jobs
  • Work on recovery related workbook
  • Read
  • Diamond art/painting
  • Cuddle with my cat, Billie

Friday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk (most likely with a friend)
  • Work on a recovery related workbook
  • Diamond art/painting
  • Read
  • Cuddle with my cat, Billie

Saturday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Morning walk (most likely with partner or a friend)
  • Work on recovery related workbook
  • Read
  • Diamond art/painting
  • Cuddle with my cat, Billie

A Proud Accomplishment

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!!!

Daily Prompt; What Brings You Peace?

Daily writing prompt
What brings you peace?

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.

Depression Sucks

Good Afternoon, World!!! I am struggling with some things that I really don’t want to write about right now. I guess it is something that I sort of process in my own time in my own way. I am not even sure if discussing it with my mental health team as well as my natural support system would be helpful at this point in time as I think you could be more challenging to deal with if I did.

I just really don’t like struggling with depression and sadly I have been isolating which is not a good thing. I am making an effort to not isolate by reaching out to my natural support system. I am also spending time with my cat who is helping with my depression symptoms. Another thing that is helping is taking my daily walks in the morning and adding a second walk in the afternoon or evening. I also have been doing multiple mindfulness meditation practices on the daily basis. I know I need to do more but it is challenging to do when you are having morning sickness due to being pregnant.

I do not have much more to discuss in this particular blog post except I will do my best to blog on the more regular basis. I do want to thank you, the reader 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 on my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!

Managing Through a Tough Day

Hello, World!!! It has been a rough day so far and it is not even twelve noon yet, here in Seattle. I think part of the reason why it has been a rough day is partly due to PTSD symptoms as well as depression symptoms. Both depression and PTSD symptoms suck but I think a factor of the depression symptoms is due to the current weather here in Seattle. It is currently cloudy with a great deal of rain. On that note at least it is not cold enough to snow as I am not a big fan of snow.

Since it hasn’t been the greatest weather outside, I have been doing some things to help myself through this tough day. I have been doing some mindfulness meditation practices as well as doing workbooks to focus on different aspects of my recovery. I have found that both the mindfulness meditation practices and doing workbooks have been quite helpful. Of course my cat, Billie, has been a major help.

Speaking of cats, I go back to volunteering at PAWS Cat City later today after taking some time off. I will be doing some sub shifts and hopefully, will be back on a regular shift soon. Volunteering with cats is awesome and I enjoy it immensely.

I do not have much more to write about 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 the reader, read my blog. If it was not for you the reader, reading my blog, I would not be writing my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!

Weekly Plans

Sunday

  • Mindfulness Meditation practice through the Calm App
  • Morning Walk
  • Workbooks
  • Volunteer at PAWS Cat City
  • Dinner with friends
  • Read

Monday

  • Mindfulness Meditation practice through the Calm App
  • Morning Walk
  • Go to Emerald House (a mental health clubhouse)
  • Workbooks
  • Dinner with friends
  • Read

Tuesday

  • Mindfulness Meditation practice through the Calm App
  • Morning Walk
  • Go to Emerald House (a mental health clubhouse)
  • Workbooks
  • Read
  • Dinner with friends

Wednesday

  • Mindfulness Mediation practice through the Calm App
  • Morning Walk
  • Virtual Group
  • Workbooks
  • Read
  • Online 12 Step Meeting

Thursday

  • Mindfulness Meditation practice through the Calm App
  • Morning Walk
  • Virtual Group
  • Workbooks
  • Read
  • Attend a college women’s basketball game at the University of Washington with friends

Friday

  • Mindfulness Meditation practice through the Calm App
  • Morning Walk
  • Go to Emerald House (a mental health clubhouse)
  • Therapy (virtual session)
  • Workbooks
  • Read
  • Dinner with friends

Saturday

  • Mindfulness Meditation practice through the Calm App
  • Morning Walk
  • University District Farmers Market
  • Lunch with friends
  • Workbooks
  • Read
  • Clean apartment