Tag Archives: Recovery

Tomorrow Starts…

Posted on by Gertie

Well, I am not sure if you remember me telling you this a few weeks ago that, I bought some magazines. A couple of those magazines happen to be focused specifically on writing. One of the writing magazines has 52 prompts. Fifty-two prompts to do for an entire year. One prompt every week for a year.

I got to thinking about the weekly writing prompts and how it reminded me of the Daily Prompts that WordPress does. It got me to thinking that to keep you my reader and follower engaged with my blog that I would do the weekly writing prompt from this particular writing magazine. Part of the reason why I am doing the writing prompt is because I want to engage you in a way that I haven’t engage you before you. The weekly prompts will be fiction. Well, most of them will be fiction. I am sure some of them won’t be fiction. Another reason why I am doing the writing prompts is that I can write them ahead of time and schedule them so if I get busy with life or my mental illness rears its ugly head, I then have something being posted every week. Plus, if my mental illness does rear it’s ugly head, I then can do a weekly prompt to help me get out of my head even if it is a prompt that is two months way.  So, the weekly prompts start tomorrow.

Well, besides the weekly prompts starting tomorrow, I will be going to work with my new butterfly tattoo and my hair being highlighted purple. I am looking forward to seeing what my colleagues and clients think of my hair and showing off my new tattoo.

I hope to be able to tell you later this week what others think of my hair and tattoo. Have a wonderful week. Peace Out!!

 

Tattoo of Hope

Posted on by Gertie

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Good Morning!! I hope everyone is having a good weekend. If you regularly read my blog you know that I got a new tattoo yesterday. In fact the tattoo I got yesterday evening is pictured above.

I have wanted to get a butterfly tattoo for several years now for several reasons. The main reason is that a butterfly is a sign of hope. Hope that all the struggles one goes through that beauty is on the other side. Think of the caterpillar and the darkness it goes through when it is in a cocoon and out from the cocoon the beauty of the butterfly emerges.

This is how I view recovery. Not just my recovery but other’s recovery. Knowing that the beauty of recovery looks differently  to each person and each person is in recovery from different issues.

For me my recovery is from a mental illness and cutting as well as eating disorders. Granted I have been in recovery from the eating disorders longer than my mental health issues but it is still recovery. I also am in recovery from cutting.

As you can see in the picture, I have scars from the cutting and that the butterfly covers up some of those scars. Scars that may look fresh but are not.  I purposely had the butterfly placed where it is because I wanted to show the beauty of what recovery looks like despite the scars I have, both visible and invisible to the eye.

Thank you for reading. I appreciate each and everyone of you and hope that what I blog about has meaning to someone just like my both my tattoos have meaning to me. Have a great weekend and peace out.

Weekly Check-In

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening or should I say Happy Friday!!! It is finally the end of a long and stressful work week. Don’t get me wrong I love my job it just was a long week at work.

As you may know that this week was suppose to be a “short” week because of the three day weekend but I went into work on Memorial Day to clean up a messy office that I acquired from my predecessors as well as catching up on the all so lovely paper work that is nesasary as peer specialist. Not to mention that the lovely paper work is required by the state and federal government as well as the lovely insurance companies that pay for clients to seek services. Well, back on topic of work and the stress that goes with being a peer specialist. Besides paper work, myself and my colleagues were informed of three client deaths. I of course can’t say anymore about the client deaths due to HIPPA. It is not easy to hear about a clients death especially multiple in a week.

Hearing about the clients deaths brought up my own grief and loss issues. Not just over loosing clients but that of the miscarriages I have dealt with. It is still quite difficult dealing with the miscarriage loss’s. Loosing a child(ren) is the toughest thing a person can deal with. So tough at times that at the moment I rather change the subject.

So let go on to the subject of earlier this evening. After work I went and got my second tattoo. I got a butterfly tattoo. I hope to blog more about it tomorrow with a picture or two. Getting the tattoo was quite relaxing and am grateful that I got it. So far the people who have seen the tattoo like it.

I hope to blog more about my tattoo tomorrow (Saturday) morning. Have a great weekend everyone. Peace out!!

Looking Forward To Tomorrow

Posted on by Gertie

It’s been a long day and continues get longer. I, of coursed worked today and now I am waiting to start a Warm Line shift. I decided that I would fill in for someone who needed to take the day off from their shift. Others have done it for me so I will do it for others. I know I’m going to be tired by the end of my volunteer shift since I worked today as well but I am looking forward to tomorrow.

I am looking forward to tomorrow because at this time tomorrow I will be getting my second tattoo. I am going to be getting a butterfly on my right shoulder. I emailed an idea of the butterfly tattoo I desire to my tattoo artist informing him that the image I sent him was an idea of how I want the butterfly and would like his artistic style to the butterfly as well. From my understanding he is grateful for the idea and is “thrilled” to be able add his own style to the butterfly tattoo I emailed him. It was and is just an idea of how I would like the idea.

The placement of my tattoo will be covering up some scars on my shoulder. Scars that people always assume that are “fresh” when they are not. They just happened to be keloid scars. If you regularly read my blog you know that I have had issues with cutting myself in the height of my mental illness.

It seems that all the tattoo’s I plan on getting including the one I have and the butterfly I am getting tomorrow all have some meaning to me in regards to my mental illness. Most if not all I am going to get will be recovery related. Two or three will help bring awareness to mental illness like the semi-colon tattoo I already have. The butterfly has meaning to me as well and yes it involves my recovery dealing with mental illness. I will share with you the meaning behind it, tomorrow evening or Saturday morning when I do my weekly check in. Hell, I might just do an entire post on just my new tattoo after I get it. Yes, I will put up a picture of it on my blog.

I need to get going. My Warm Line shift is about to start. Have a wonderful evening. I hope to do another post tomorrow evening, weather it’s my weekly check in or about my butterfly tattoo. Peace Out!!!

Introduction: Mama Bear

Posted on by mamabearraine

Hello! Let me introduce myself. I am who Gertie refers to as Mama Bear. As you know, Gertie has asked me to be a contributor to her blog. I will be sharing my personal experience on what it is like to be a support system to someone who struggles  with a mental illness.

I have been asked to also share my experience on what it is like to be a parent of two children who are diagnosed with a mental illness. I may consider Gertie like a daughter, I have four other children. Two of which I had biologically and two of which I adopted. It is my adopted children that have a diagnosed mental illness. Not only will I be sharing my experience of what its like to be the support system of someone who struggles with a mental illness and being the parent of two children with a mental illness, I will be discussing what it is like to be a first responder who deals with the mentally ill.

I have known Gertie for nearly 16 years and have seen her grow. Grow in ways that many of us didn’t think could happen. We didn’t think it could happen because Gertie was so close to death due to multiple suicide attempts that we didn’t think should would make it. Gertie’s will and determination to start recovery and to remain in recovery is what has helped to get to the place she is in now. She is doing awesome. She is following her dreams of being in a romantic relationship with my colleague, Junior as well as working as a Peer Specialist to help show others recovery is possible.

I thank you for reading. I hope to post as often as I am able with being a working mother to four children and a motherly figure Gertie needs.

Mama Bear

Two Years of Blogging

Posted on by Gertie

Today, marks two years since I posted my first blog post. It’s hard to wrap my mind around that it has been two years already. In fact I am surprised with myself that I have stuck with blogging. I thought I would have given up on it for various of reasons. I could have multiple times and didn’t give up.

I could have given up when I miscarried. I could have given up when my mental illness reared it’s ugly head. I could have given up when I didn’t reach the amount of followers I think I should have by a certain time. I didn’t give up.

I didn’t give up because there is still stigma out there regarding mental illness. I didn’t give up because there are people out there still struggling with mental illness that needs to find hope. To find hope that recovery is possible. I didn’t give up because I have found out in the last two years of blogging that blogging helps me and helps me with my recovery. If fact I wasn’t even expecting it to be helpful for me. I didn’t give up because I have found a support system within the blogging community.

The blogging community has a sense of respect for each other that other social media does not. There is very little drama in the blogging community. There is some drama but it’s extremely rare and that is what I like. We all respect each other no matter the topic of our particular blog or post. We may not always agree with each other but we respect each other and our different opinions and point of views. Thank you for allowing me to be apart of an awesome community.

I need to be going. I need to get going and head for work.  Again, thank you for being so kind to me and allowing me to be me. Have a wonderful day and Peace Out!!

Happy Memorial Day

Posted on by Gertie

Happy Memorial Day!!! I hope everyone had a nice three day weekend. I didn’t exactly have a three day weekend because I worked today but it felt like I had one.

It felt like I had one because the office was closed which means the drop-in was closed and I didn’t have to see clients. I love my clients but am glad that I was to organize my office and catch up on paper work. My office needed a great deal of organizing and was able to have the time to do it and not to have to worry about getting interrupted by clients or meeting or some sort of other event.

Well, the day was interrupted by an event but it was a planned event. Those of us that went into work today had planned to have potluck bar-be-queue. It was nice to not be rushed through lunch. In fact it was a nice relaxing day at work and I got a great deal done. I got my office organized and started decorating it. I also got caught up on my all so lovely paper work.

I do owe much gratitude to those who paid the ultimate price for my freedom. If it wasn’t for them and all the women and men who fought for my freedom, I wouldn’t have been able to have the holiday to catch up on things at work.   Thank you to all you veterans, and the friends and family who lost loved ones in the wars. I am much grateful for all of you.

Now I am off to another Memorial Day celebration. Have a wonder full Memorial Day. Happy Memorial Day!! Peace out!!

An Idea or Two

Posted on by Gertie

Good morning, everyone!! Or at least it’s still morning for another twelve minutes in my neck of the woods. I have come up with an idea or two for my blog. As many of you know that I recently acquired a writers magazine that has fifty-two writing prompts for every week of the year starting in on the first Monday in June. You may know that I have decided that I am going to do the weekly writing prompts here on my blog for the next year (52 weeks) starting in June. Of course this is an idea that I have had for a week or two and that  may or may not be new to you.

The idea or two that are new to you is that I was thinking about doing a weekly check-in with you all. I would do this weekly check-in with you all on Friday evening or Saturday morning or afternoon. It is my hope to engage you my reader a little bit more as well as to let you all know how things are going with me. Part of the reason why I am wanting to do this is I am realizing I am not blogging as much as I would like to and this will help me with being more regular about blogging.

The other idea of the idea or two is to have contributors to my blog. They would be people in my support network. For instance, I have Junior my fiancé to be a contributor and he thinks it’s a wonderful idea. Another contributor would be a friend of mine who has taken me under her wing and is a second mother to me. In fact she has been more of a mom to me than my own mother. I call her my Mama Bear and that’s how I will refer to her by here on my blog. Anyway Junior and Mama Bear both think its an “awesome idea.” They will both be posting at least once a month and posting from the perspective of having a loved one that struggles with a mental illness. They might even give the perspective of being first responders and dealing with the public and those of the public who struggle with mental illness. I am hoping with having contributors that it will give my reader and/or follower a different perspective on the side of mental illness and how it effects them and the stigma they to deal with.  I am not sure when my contributors will start but I will inform you when they do.

Before I go I hope that you like the idea’s I have come up with to keep you my reader and/or follower to continue to want to read my blog. I know when other bloggers I follow don’t post much, I start to loose interest and I hope that you all aren’t loosing interest in my blog.

Well, it is now exactly 12noon. So have a good afternoon everyone. I hope you all have a good weekend and Peace Out!!

Happy Friday

Posted on by Gertie

Happy Friday!!! It’s the start of a three day weekend here in the United States of America (USA). Monday is Memorial Day.  Memorial Day is were we as Americans celebrate and remember those who lost their lives fighting for our freedom.

Freedom that I am grateful for. If it wasn’t for those who lost their lives as well as all the Veteran’s, I wouldn’t be able to have the choice to be in recovery with my mental illness. I would most likely be institutionalized and treated like shit. Because of the men and woman who fought for my freedom and paid the ultimate price I have a choice how my personal recovery looks like.

For me if my own personal recovery is why I am working as a Peer Specialist. In fact I am working on Monday even though I don’t have to. The reason why I am working is because they recently finished a remodel before I started my position and there is a great deal of stuff left in boxes that wasn’t unpacked by the person I replaced as well as by the person the recently left the job. So, I am cleaning up my office as well as catching up on notes. Technically, the office is closed so a lot of clinicians go into work to catch up paper work when there are no clients coming in. If we take the day off, the agency automatically takes out PTO hours which sucks but its a good day to catch up on things like paper work and organizing. The good thing about working on a holiday is I get to sleep in.

Memorial Day isn’t about sleeping in even though its a plus. It’s about remembering those who paid the ultimate price for my freedom. My freedom to be in recovery and to be able to work.

As I end this blog entry, I ask that each one of you take moment of silence to remember those who fought for our freedom. Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Memorial Day. Peace Out all!!

Daily Prompt: The Normal

Posted on by Gertie

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “The Normal.” Is being “normal” — whatever that means to you — a good thing, or a bad thing? Neither?

As you can tell, the past daily prompt I chose to do is about “normal” and whatever it means to me. Before I get to what “normal” means to me, I would like to give you the definition of “normal.” The definition of “Normal” according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary is: Adjective; usual or ordinary; not strange; mentally or physically healthy. According to the definition, I am not “normal” because I am not mentally healthy or at least that’s what I understand it to mean due to the fact of have a mental illness.

I see the definition of “Normal” to be what society thinks on how a person should look or act depending on age, trends and so on. An example of this particular definition of mine is: As a 37 year old woman, I should have at least a four year college education if not already having a Masters Degree or at least be working one by now. As 37 year old woman society says I should be married to the person I love and have children. I say that’s bullshit because society is not who says what “Normal” is. One normal is for me, may not be normal for me.

For me my “normal” is being able to work, weather its part time or full time. Granted I am working full time at the moment and realize that there might be a time in my life where I might need to work part time if I am struggling in a bad way with my mental illness. Another thing that is “normal” for me is seeking mental health services to maintain my recovery. I am sure as time goes on I won’t need as many mental health services as I do now and that will be my “normal” when it happens. “Normal” is always changing or at least that’s how I view it.

I also inform people that “normal” is a fantasy or that there is no such thing as “normal.” Some people say that “normal” is a setting on a dryer. “Normal” is defined by everyone differently so for me “normal” is neither good or bad, its what you view “normal” to be for you and only you.

Well, I best be going. I really need to go and eat something. For me eating regularly is “normal” and is a form of good self care. Have a good evening everyone. Peace Out!!