The Basic’s of the Reality of Self Care & Self Love

Happy Midnight from my corner of the world which is Seattle, Washington. As I stated it is midnight here in Seattle and it appears that I am unable to sleep. At this point in time I don’t think it is insomnia that is keeping me up.

The reason why I am thinking it is not insomnia as I have been doing to some good self care after the toe infection I have been dealing with. Even though I am suppose to be staying off of it, I am have been doing some major chores around my apartment. Specifically, I have been cleaning it as it is in desperate need of a major cleaning. The lack of cleanliness hasn’t been good for my depression which is why I am been cleaning about thirty minutes day. While cleaning I have been listening to music. Specifically, I have been listening to my Recovery Music list to keep me motivated.

Another thing that has helping me stay motivated is by doing mindfulness and meditation practices. Practicing mindfulness and meditation as helped me stat focused on what I need to do for good self care as well as good self love. Self love is extremely challenging for me which is why I am doing my best to do things that create self love in myself by doing mindfulness and meditation practices on a daily schedule.

As part of my self care, I am starting read books for fun again. I noticed when I read for fun it helps me go on a mini vacation without costing too much money. It could be done in many situations and can also be considered a form of mindfulness.

Oh an lets not forget about reading comic books. Comic books is a great way to do good self care as well as an awesome form of self love. Comic books has a way for me to believe in myself in ways other types of reading material may not be quite as helpful.

I recently bought some magazines regarding mindfulness, meditation , journaling as well as creativity to help me continue on good self care and good self love. Of course all this will be help me especially if I stick to it like I plan to. Journaling will be a good help with my recovery.

The one thing that helps me everyday, multiple times a day to stay grounded is my cat Billie Dean. Billie has been a great help with staying in the reality of doing good self care and self love. I love my cat Billie so much and am grateful for being able to having as a mindfulness exercise multiple times a day.

On a plus note I was able to go to work today (Friday) and was thrilled about it. I love being a Peer Support Specialist which is why I am focusing on self-care and self-love.

I do not have much more to say i this particular blog. I just want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you read my blog. Again, thank from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog; it truly is greatly appreciated. Now it is time to say goodnight now that is it midnight Seattle time. Plus it is time to cuddled with my precious kitty Billie Dean aka Billie the Kat aka Billie. I have everyone has great night ahead of them. Have an awesome weekend ahead and don’t forget to do good self care. You my readers are just very awesome people. Thank you for reading my blog. Good Night and Peace Out, World!!!

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

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.

Weekly Plans

Sunday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Volunteer at PAWS Cat City
  • Work on step one
  • Attend a twelve step meeting

Monday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Attend a twelve step meeting
  • Work on step one
  • Work

Tuesday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Work on step one
  • Work

Wednesday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Work
  • Work on step one
  • Attend a twelve step meeting

Thursday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Work
  • Work on step one

Friday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Work
  • Attend twelve step meeting
  • Work on step one

Saturday

  • Mindfulness meditation
  • Clean apartment
  • Work on step one
  • Attend a twelve step meeting

Weekly Plans

Sunday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Volunteer at PAWS Cat City
  • Clean apartment
  • Mindfulness workbook
  • Continuing education class on Stress Management

 Monday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Continuing education class on Stress Management
  • Mindfulness workbook
  • Work

Tuesday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Continuing education class on Stress Management
  • Mindfulness workbook
  • Work

Wednesday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Work
  • Continuing Education on Stress Management
  • Mindfulness workbook

Thursday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Work
  • Continuing education on Stress Management
  • Mindfulness workbook

Friday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Work
  • Celebrate my birthday two days early with dad’s side of family

Saturday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Travel to Olympia via train
  • Celebrate my birthday a day early with mom and uncle

Sunday Afternoon, Ramblings

Good Afternoon, World!!! So far today has been a great day and it is 12:39pm. It being 12:39pm means the day is technically half over. Anyway as I state so far today has been a great day.

I started off the day with a mindfulness meditation from the Calm app. After that I then worked on The Mindfulness Workbook for about forty-five minutes before going to volunteer at PAWS Cat City. I love volunteering so much as I am giving back to a community I love. The animal welfare community is small like the mental health community.

I forgot to tell you a couple of things yesterday evening in my weekly check-in. The first thing is that I am learning Spanish through Duolingo. I’m having fun with it as well as finding challenging enough for me to continue to do it. I’m even practicing with people I know who speak Spanish even though it is very limited on my part.

The second thing I forgot to mention was that I opened a savings account to save money to do things I want and want to do. I haven’t had a savings account in years and am happy that I am able to have one. Yes, I have had a checking account but not savings account. While, I was at the bank yesterday opening a savings account, I found out what my credit score was and was told by the banker that “its a really good score.” I was happily shocked by my credit score. Anyway, I am glad opened a savings account to save money.

I don’t have much more to say 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 read my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!

Weekly Plans

Sunday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Volunteer at PAWS Cat City
  • Do laundry
  • Sunday dinner with friends over Zoom
  • Continuing education class on Stress Management

Monday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Appointment with psychiatric nurse practitioner
  • Last appointment with current therapist
  • Work

Tuesday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Continuing education class on Stress Management
  • Work

Wednesday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Work
  • Continuing education class on Stress Management.

Thursday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Work
  • Continuing education class on Stress Management

Friday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Work
  • Movie with friends over Zoom

Saturday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Continuing education class on Stress Management
  • Clean apartment
  • Work on mindfulness workbook

Intro to Poetry; Day 1: Water

Untitled Poem

by Gertie

A running little

brook is a meditative

way of escaping.

Weekly Plans

Sunday

  • Arrive home from my last shift of the homeless shelter I work at.
  • Spend time with my cat, Billie Dean
  • Mindfulness and Meditation.
  • Take a nap.
  • Do laundry.

Monday

  • Mindfulness and Meditation.
  • Take my cat Billie to the vet to get his vaccines.
  • Volunteer at PAWS Cat City

Tuesday

  • Mindfulness and Meditation.
  • Therapy
  • Clean apartment.
  • Get meds.

Wednesday

  • Mindfulness and Meditation.
  • Start new job.

Thursday

  • Mindfulness and Meditation.
  • Work.

Friday

  • Mindfulness and Meditation.
  • Work.

Saturday

  • Mindfulness and Meditation.
  • Volunteer at PAWS Cat City
  • Chill out.

Happy Monday

Good Afternoon, World!!! I will be heading out to my volunteer job at PAWS Cat City within the next forty minutes. I love being able to volunteer my time with helping PAWS. I enjoy doing whatever is needed for me to do including the deep cleaning. I do have to say the best part of volunteering at PAWS Cat City is when the cats get adopted to their furrever home.

Speaking of cats, my cat Billie, loves doing mindfulness and meditation practices with me. Every time I do a mindfulness exercise on The Calm App, Billie gets in my lap as I do the exercise. It appears that the he does the practice with me. I love the fact that my cat, Billie, does the mindfulness practice with me through The Calm App. Doing a mindfulness and/or meditation practice helps me a great deal and is one of the best ways for me to start my day.

On a not so good not is that the air quality here in Seattle is considered hazardous. It is considered hazardous due to the wild fires around Washington as well as the rest of the west coast. Seattle isn’t the only place with hazardous air quality. California and Oregon are dealing with worse air quality that Washington is.

I do not have much more to say. I do want to thank you all for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you read my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone has a great Monday. I also hope everyone has an awesome work week ahead of you. Don’t forget to stop and smell the roses (or coffee). What I mean is don’t forget to take the time to just breathe. Peace Out, World!!!

Weekly Plans

Sunday

  • Get off work
  • Spend time with my cat Billie Dean
  • Take a nap
  • Work on a workbook or two
  • Do mindfulness or meditation practice
  • Do art work. (Most likely coloring)

Monday

  • Do mindfulness or meditation practice
  • Walk through local parks
  • Volunteer at PAWS Cat City
  • Work on a workbook or two
  • Do laundry
  • Do some form of art work (Most likely coloring)

Tuesday

  • Do a mindfulness or meditation practice
  • Phone session with my Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner for a med review
  • Get my meds
  • Clean my apartment
  • Do a workbook or two
  • Do some coloring as I am coloring something for my therapist

Wednesday

  • Do a mindfulness or meditation practice
  • Have an in person appointment with my therapist
  • Do some coloring as I am coloring something for my therapist.
  • Work on a workbook or two

Thursday

  • Do a mindfulness or meditation practice
  • Clean my apartment
  • Do some coloring as I am coloring stuff for people
  • Work on a workbook or two

Friday

  • Do a mindfulness or meditation practice
  • Do some coloring
  • Work on a workbook or two.

Saturday

  • Sleep all day
  • Work all night