Tag Archives: Podcast

Happy Monday

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World!!! It is yet another Monday and I am wishing I had a job that had a “normal” work schedule but thankfully, I don’t have to work tonight. I do however have a two hour work meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) evening. I enjoy what I do for work, I just don’t like the fact it is an on call job working a twelve hour overnight shift. It is not conducive for someone like me who has “treatment resistant insomnia.” Sadly, I will be putting in my two weeks notice in the next week or two.

As far as writing my resignation letter, I am not going to do that today. I will be laying low and doing things to help me not isolate yet have some “me time” or some good self care time. First and fore most I need to take a much needed shower. The last time I took a shower was last Thursday morning so I am not smelling all that good. You know you smell bad when you can smell yourself and it doesn’t smell all that pretty. I am surprised my cat still wants to sit on my lap and be petted.

Another thing I plan on doing is to go walking. I plan on going on multiple walks as it is a beautiful day outside. As I walk I plan on just taking in the sunshine and enjoying the moment. So, I guess I will be doing mindful walking.

I, of course will be listening to podcast. The subjects I have been listening to over the weekend and most interested in at the moment are philosophy and mythology. I don’t know how I got interested in philosophy but I know how I got interested in mythology. I got interested in mythology due to the fact that I am a huge Wonder Woman fan. Wonder Woman’s roots goes back into mythology. If it wasn’t for my love of Wonder Woman I don’t think I would have been interested in mythology. In fact someone told me that philosophy and mythology can go hand in hand and to a degree I agree with that but they are also two very different subjects.

I do not have much more to say except that I hope to educate you on what I have learned from the podcast and from looking up the information online. I also want to thank you for reading my blog as it greatly appreciated from my end of things. Have a good work week everyone. I also hope you all have a good Monday. Peace Out, World!!!

A Depressive Saturday

Posted on by Gertie

Hello, World!!! I woke up this morning to it being sunny outside yet extremely depressed. So depressed that I have been isolating all day which is not a good thing for me. Isolation tends to makes me more depressed. Being depressed sucks shit.

Even though I have been depressed all day and haven’t felt like doing shit, I have done something. I have managed to make some progress on the poster I am coloring which makes me quite happy. Coloring is a type of mindfulness exercise for me.

As I colored I listened to podcast. I listened to a podcast on philosophy and found another podcast that I started listening to on mythology. Mythology is a topic I enjoy as Wonder Woman background is in mythology. So throughout the day I would switch back and forth to a philosophy podcast to a mythology podcast. Being able to switch up topics is a good thing especially as I color.

I do not have much more to say. I just want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things. Have a wonderful rest of your evening as well as your weekend. Peace Out, World

So Far, It’s Not A Good Friday

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! I am not having a very good Friday due to the fact that my depression and anxiety symptoms are acting up and I am getting easily angered. Specifically, I am getting easily angered at myself. I am getting easily angered at myself because I feel like I am not handling the symptoms of my anxiety and depression as well as I think I should be handling them. The reality of the situation is that I am handling the symptoms better than I think I am because I am not making the situation worse and am making a life worth living for myself.

The thing I have come to realize over the years, I tend to get angry with myself due to my mental health symptoms even when I am reacting to them in a positive way like building a life worth living. Even if people may not think I am building a life worth living with the things I am currently doing, I am building a life worth living because I am educating myself as well as being creative through art.

The way I am educating myself is listening to a podcast on Spotify about philosophy and after each episode, I research what the podcaster discusses. In fact the podcast on philosophy I am listening to is “Philosophize This.” Stephen West is the person that does “Philosophize This” and I personally think he does a great job. He captures my attention which is a good thing because of being diagnosed with ADHD and me wanting to educate myself further on what he discusses in each episode. For me willing to educate myself on a particular subject and/or topic due to how someone conveys the particular subject (and topic) says something about the person discussing it. When a friend of mine suggested that I listen to “Philosophize This,” I was hesitant at first but when I listened to the first episode Stephen West had me wanting to learn more due to his approach on the subject of philosophy. It is because of Stephen West passion for the subject of philosophy is why I am self educating myself.

As I listen to “Philosophize This” I am being creative by doing art which is another way I am creating a life worth living. The particular form of art I am doing as I am listening to the podcast is coloring. I am coloring a poster to give to my therapist to hang in his office. I realize that coloring may not be what most people consider a life worth living but for me if I can color something for others to enjoy, its a life worth living because others are able to enjoy what I created.

Even though I am coloring and listening to “Philosophize This,” I am still struggling and not having a good Friday. I wish the symptoms of my depression and anxiety would subside but sadly they are not which is why I am getting angry with myself. Being angry is never a good thing for me but if I continue doing good things for myself like listening to “Philosophize This” and coloring then I am able to control my anger. Being able to control the anger is a good thing.

I don’t have much more to say. I just want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciative from my end of things. Again, thank you for reading my blog. I hope you all have an awesome Friday. I also hope you all have an awesome weekend. I hope you all enjoy the next couple of days. Peace Out, World!!!

Just Another Post With Me Rambling

Posted on by Gertie

Good Afternoon, World!!! It is just after one o’clock in the afternoon in my corner of the world and I have been struggling since I woke up at five this morning. I have been struggling with several symptoms of my mental health challenges. I wish I wasn’t struggling with symptoms but sadly I am.

As badly as I am struggling at the moment and against my better judgement, I watched the twelve noon news. I say against my better judgement because there tends to be at least one story that triggers me. In fact there were two stories that triggered me in the noon news and it appears that it is the topic of politics that tends to be triggering for me at the moment. At least I am realizing what is triggering for me.

Lets get on to a different topic other than the news and politics as I am getting triggered even discussing it in this post. Yesterday, I had both therapy and group therapy. Specifically, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). In therapy my therapist and I discussed the DBT skills that I am struggling with doing due to barriers that get in the way. Even though we discussed the DBT skills I struggled with, we mainly talked about the barriers I struggle with. Sadly, some of the barriers are trauma related and we will need to continue to discuss these particular barriers in future sessions. After my session with my therapist I went to group therapy that happened to be DBT group. The topic of DBT group happened to be barriers that get in the way of using skills. When I found out the topic of DBT group I had to chuckle to myself because of what therapist and I discussed in my session with him.

Anyway, back to today and waking up struggling. I was struggling bad enough that the only thing I could do in the moment of waking up was pet my cat. My cat just laid next to me in my chair purring as I petted her. I ended up petting my cat close to a half an hour and during that half an hour petting my cat, I realize what I needed to do and ended up doing the entire morning before turning on the twelve noon news.

The things I ended up doing was art work and listening to a podcast as I did art work. The type of art work I ended up doing was coloring. I am coloring a poster in hopes to give it my therapist. As I colored the poster I listened to a podcast on philosophy. The specific podcast about philosophy I am listening to is called “Philosophize This” and am learning a great deal about philosophy. I highly recommend listening to the podcast “Philosophize This” for several reasons which I will share with you another time.

I say I will share with you another time in why I recommend “Philosophize This” is because I need to end this particular blog post so I can get going and eat something. I realized I haven’t eaten yet today which is not a good thing. Before I end this post I want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things. I hope everyone has a great Friday as well as an awesome weekend. Peace Out, World!!!

Plans for the Evening

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! I have a relatively good day. I went and got my dentures adjusted and found out that I will get my permanent in late August, early September. I, then went to a group and saw my employment (vocational) specialist. After that I spent some time with friends which is always a good thing especially since I have been isolating a great deal as of lately. Spending time with my friends today was much needed and plans with another friend for next Friday (July 5th). Having people in corner to be of support is awesome.

Now that I am home and have nothing planned for the rest of the day, I am thinking that I will do some art. Actually, I plan on coloring as there is a big coloring picture that I started in late 2016 and haven’t finished yet because every time I restart it something always happens to where I stop coloring. See this coloring poster has an awesome saying on it and it reminds me of something a therapist would say. I started it originally thinking once it is finished that I would give it my therapist at the time, Dianna but sadly she had to unexpectedly quit due to a cancer diagnosis. Every time I have started coloring the picture again in hopes to give it the therapist I have at the moment something happens to where that person is no longer my therapist. So I think I am going to start coloring it again in hopes to give it to my current therapist and if for some reason he can’t be my therapist anymore I will hold on to it and give it to someone who has helped me. I love to color for many reasons and plan on coloring this evening.

As I color I will be listening to a podcast on philosophy. I find the subject fascinating and love learning about it and how it has shaped history and our ways of thinking. The philosophy podcast I am listening to is “Philosophize This” on Spotify. I am learning a great deal from Stephen West about philosophy. In fact the topics and people he discusses I end up looking up and learning even more. To me listening to this podcast is helping me with finding out things I might not have educated myself on. I really find philosophy interesting and enjoy learning about it.

I do not have much more to discuss with you at the moment. I want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things. Thank you again for reading my blog. I hope everyone has good rest of their day. Peace Out, World!!!

So Far a Good but Uneventful Day

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! Today has been pretty uneventful which I consider a good thing. I consider it good thing because I was able to do some things that I was able to enjoy as well as a couple of things that I needed to do.

The things I needed to do weren’t exactly the most fun things to do but thankfully didn’t take much of my day to do. I needed to do my daily check-in with my therapist. Today’s daily check-in was via phone and lasted for a half an hour. My therapist and I didn’t have our check-in till just after four in the afternoon due to him having to “deal with multiple crisis’s with other clients.” That is okay with me because at least I know I am not in crisis and the check-in’s are to help prevent a crisis especially since my mental health symptoms are increasing. We discussed how my weekend was and what I did over the weekend. We also discussed meds and the potential of needing to pick them up two to three times a week instead of weekly. I am pretty sure picking up my meds more often is going to happen which I am not a fan of but am okay with it as long as it is at the pharmacy I have been going to for the last nineteen years. My therapist did ask if I had picked up my meds for the week and I informed him that I did pick them up. In fact picking up my meds were the only other thing that I actually needed to do besides that obvious of taking care of my cat, Lil Gertie.

I love my cat, Lil Gertie. Lil Gertie has been laying on my chest or lap more as of lately. I am not sure why but I am grateful for it. I do know when she sits on my chest it is because I am having an anxiety attack or about to have one. This helps me to realize this and makes me aware of my breathing. In fact as I am writing this blog on my laptop, Lil Gertie is laying on my chest purring up a storm. I love that fact the she has been laying on my lap or chest more often. It appears to be helping the both of us and the best part is that my anxiety hasn’t been as high as it has been in the past.

I pretty much only did two things today besides my check-in with my therapist, getting my meds and blogging. Those two things were doing some form of art while listening to a podcast. In fact I am listening to a podcast that discusses the topic of philosophy. I find the topic of philosophy very interesting. The specific podcast I am listening to is Philosophize This. I am personally enjoying it especially when I am doing art. In fact while listening to Philosophize This today I have been doing some art. Mainly, I have been coloring but did complete one painting and started another painting. I think maybe taking a picture or two of the art work I have been doing to show you all would be a good idea as whenever I include a picture of anything on my blog post I tend to get more traffic on my blog but I want to post my art work so you can enjoy it and not for the increased traffic to my blog.

I do not have much more to say except I should get going so I can eat some dinner as it is dinner time. I also want to thank you for reading my blog as it is greatly appreciated from my end of things. I hope everyone has a great work week ahead of them. Again, thank you for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!

Back to Basics in Recovery

Posted on by Gertie

Good Afternoon, World!!! Over the last few weeks I have realized that I really need to get back to basics. Back to basics in regards to my recovery as it appears that the last two and half years haven’t been the best for me in regards to my mental health symptoms and how I have been dealing with them. I haven’t been dealing with my symptoms in a way that that I would personally like to so that means that for the sake of my recovery I am needing to go to basics. Going back to basics also means having a routine.

Anyone in recovery especially in the early stages, or when symptoms increase, or when relapse happens routine is key to helping the person get to the life the want to live. In Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) terms; a life worth living. For me personally, routine has always been something I need throughout my life. Routine is something that has been quite helpful for me and my recovery and I think having more of a routine is something that will help me get to where I was when I was doing much better and be in a better place than when I was at my best.

When I was at my best I wasn’t isolating as much as I am now which means going back to basics not only means building more of a routine but going the basic DBT skills I did when I first made a decision to be in active recovery back in late 2003. For me those basic DBT skills include music and art. When I talk about music not only do I mean listening to music but playing music on my flute. Music has been a major part of my recovery. In regards to art and my recovery, coloring is the most basic thing I did because it was and still is one of my go to skills.

As for other skills that I have learned along my road of recovery is mindfulness. Mindfulness has been quite helpful for me. Yes, it is challenging at times but it is quite helpful for me to get into a better state of mind. A better state of mind that helps me use other skills needed to continue on the road of recovery.

Since I am on the topic of mindfulness and going back to the topic of routine something that I have thought long and hard about as well as started doing as a part of my morning is a mindfulness exercise. Usually, the mindfulness exercise I do is on the Calm app. I find doing mindfulness first thing in the morning quite helpful to start my day.

As I was thinking of other ways to build more of a routine throughout the day is to incorporate various things that I know will be beneficial to me, my life and me building a life worth living. The things, I will be incorporate into my daily routine is of course doing some art by coloring, music by setting a time to practice my flute, doing mindfulness exercises at least three times a day, reading a book or comic for a minimum of thirty minutes a day, walking twice a day for at least mile and listening to one episode of a podcast that I am currently enjoying a day. I realize that listening to a podcast, practicing my flute, reading, coloring, walking and mindfulness doesn’t sound much of a routine but I know it will help me get back to where I want to be in addition to going to appointments and making other plans for the day.

I don’t have much more to say. I do want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things. I am grateful for you my reader. I hope everyone has a good Monday and work week. Peace Out, World!!!

Plans for a Self-Care Saturday

Posted on by Gertie

Good Afternoon, World!!! My sleep has been off lately and it sucks. My sleep normally sucks but as of lately is sucks even more. It appears as of lately that I have only been able to fall asleep around dawn and sleep for my usual three to four hours. As much as I don’t like getting up before five in the morning, I would rather get up before five than start falling asleep around five or six. Well, this morning I fell asleep around five and then woke up at eleven thirty which means I had about six and half hours sleep but I feel like I have wasted most of my day with sleeping a good portion of the daylight.

I may feel like I have wasted my day away with sleeping most of the morning but realistically I know that I had planned to not do much today. My plans for today is mainly because I have realized that I need to do good self-care day for myself that are both intentional and spontaneous. I say both intentional and spontaneous because I need to be intentional about doing good self-care for myself today and have some spontaneity to it as well because you never know what opportunities that might come up for good self-care.

One of the things on my self-care list is to do some reading. I am wanting to catch up on reading the latest Wonder Woman comics. My grandpa bought me the last twelve issues of Wonder Woman because I haven’t bought them due to trying to save money for things that are more of a necessity like rent, food, meds and other such things than comic books. My grandpa realizes that keeping up to date on Wonder Woman comic books is a necessity for me and my mental health so he bought the (recent) issues I don’t have for me. Not only will be I reading Wonder Woman comics I will be also reading one if not both of the books I have been reading off and on for a couple of months. I love to read and hope that I can make a dent in reading at least one of the books I am reading.

Of course another thing I plan on doing today for good self-care is doing some art. Actually, the type of art I am planning on doing today is painting. The reason why painting is because I am trying to teach myself a few things a friend suggested I try when it comes to painting. Not only that another friend wants me to a paint a few things for her to sell at a farmers market she sells her art work at. She thinks some of my paintings will sell. I don’t paint to sell it, I paint to get out my emotions that I have trouble communicating with words.

While doing art and something I am doing now as I write this post is listen to a podcast. Specifically, a podcast on philosophy called “Philosophize This.” I started listening to this particular podcast a few years ago in hopes to catch up to the most up to the last episode but sadly I stopped listening. Not really sure why I stopped listening because I really enjoy “Philosophize This.” I learn a great deal from this podcast about philosophy. I learn my listening to it and then looking up the information I hear from the podcast. I listen to “Philosophize This” podcast on Spotify and am grateful that Spotify has podcast.

I don’t have much more to say. I want to thank you for reading my blog as it is greatly appreciated from my end of things. I hope you all have a great day and weekend. Peace Out, World!!!

Thursday Morning Random Thoughts

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World!!! I still haven’t had any sleep. I have been keeping myself busy as being busy helps me deal with what I need to deal with.

One way I have been dealing with things is working on my workbooks. I have been working on both my LGBTQ and my recovery strengths workbooks. Both workbooks are helping me with my recovery with a mental health challenge as well as accepting myself as me.

I have also been reading. I have been reading my Star Wars book. I am almost done with it. I hope that when I am done with it that I will remember to do a book review on it. I love to read.

I have also been working on a jigsaw puzzle of the Titanic while listening to a podcast about philosophy. Doing puzzle and listening to a podcast helps me retain what I heard on the podcast.

Thank you for reading and Peace out world!!!

No Sleep In Seattle

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World!!! As I sit here typing this post, it is three o’clock in the morning in my corner of the world. I have attempted to sleep on several occasions tonight but unable to do so.

Since I have been unable to sleep I turned on my favorite podcast Philosophize This. The two podcast I listened to was about Saint Augustine and Buddha while sorting out the end pieces from a jigsaw puzzle that I am going to start. Anyway, I found that both Christianity and Buddhism played a major role in Philosophy especially modern day philosophy. I love listening to this particular podcast as it gives me different points of views in a non judgmental and non conforming way. A way that doesn’t shove shit down your throat. 

Now that I am done discussing religion for the time being, I am going to get going. I am going to work on the jigsaw puzzle while listening to a podcast on philosophy. Thank you for reading. Peace Out, World!!!!