Tag Archives: Recovery

Afternoon Ramblings

Posted on by Gertie

Good Afternoon, World!!! I have some good news regarding the job interview I had yesterday. I was emailed this morning asking to give references and I, of course, emailed my references and now it is the waiting game to see if I got the job. I really would like this job especially since I think it will be a good fit for me, my recovery and will help with building resiliency in myself.

Speaking of resiliency, I am doing a recovery related workbook on resiliency. Part of recovery with a mental health challenge is building resiliency and able to continue to be resilient no matter what life throws at you. Trust me when I say life has thrown me a lot of shit the last few months especially with the fact that both parents died within two months of each other. Resiliency is something everyone has and can build on.

I am just grateful that my resiliency and my recovery with a mental health challenge is why I am getting back into the workforce. A workforce that is part of my career choice as being a peer support specialist. A peer specialist is someone who is recovery from a substance use disorder (SUD) and/or a mental health challenge. A peer specialist offers hope to people they are helping along their recovery journey.

I do not have anything else to discuss or share or to write about in this particular blog post. 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!!!

Dealing With My Anger

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World (again)!!! This is my third blog post in a matter of a four and a half hour time period. If you read my last blog post, you know why I am so freaking angry. After my last blog post, I tried to go to sleep but sadly my anger got in the way of me sleeping.

Since anger got in the way of me sleeping, I decided to journal about my anger. Journaling or writing about my anger is quite helpful for me and my mental health recovery journey. The reason journaling is about my anger is helpful for my recovery journey, it is because I tend to stuff my anger. When I stuff my anger, it tends to boil, and I end up emotionally exploding on people or I end up self-harming. Thankfully, I have not self-harmed in so long that I don’t remember that last time I did it which is good thing. Sadly, I have emotionally exploded and on people that I love and care about. So, journaling about my anger is form of harm reduction for me. Journaling about anger is a form of harm reduction for me because it allows me to not stuff my emotions as well as to emotionally explode on paper and not with people. Not emotionally exploding on people is a good thing.

After being done with emotionally exploding on paper I decided to do some artwork. The type of artwork I decided to do was diamond art/painting. It is the same diamond art/painting that I have been working on for the last few days which is the tuxedo cat in a tree. Doing diamond art/painting is a long process that teaches patience to people who don’t have any and is very enjoyable to do. I really love doing diamond art/painting because it is fun and is teaching me patience.

I do not have anything else to discuss or write about in this particular blog post. 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!!!

Not So Exciting Friday Plans

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World!!! It is almost six thirty in the morning here in Seattle. Sadly, I did not sleep very well last night. I wish I wasn’t struggling so much with sleep. Sleep is essential for good health, both physical and mental health which is why I wish I could sleep especially since I am not feeling well. I am sadly dealing with a stupid cold.

Since I am not feeling very well today, I am going to take it easy. I am not sure what exactly what I will do today but I know cuddling with my cat, Billie will be one of thing that I will most definitely do today. Hell, cuddling with my cat, Billie is something I do on the daily basis, and I am so grateful that Billie is such cuddle bug.

Speaking of cats, I will be doing a shift with Alley Cat Project later this morning. I am on the incoming calls team. The thing the incoming call team does is return phone calls to people who have called, emailed or an online submission. Most of the time the calls returned are regarding stray and feral cats in need of some kind of help and the incoming calls team then puts the person in touch with the appropriate person to help.

Another thing I plan on doing today is continuing to do continuing education course regarding my chosen career path of being a peer support specialist. I hope the course I start today is something that I can use in a job or at least in my personal life. I am not sure what course I will start today but I will figure that out later.

Besides working on continuing education courses, I plan on working on a workbook or two that is related to improving myself and/or recovery related to the mental health challenges I deal with. Self-improvement is key to a person’s recovery no matter the type of recovery a person is in. I enjoy working on my self-improvement and recovery by working on recovery related workbooks as I find them quite helpful especially in between sessions with my therapist.

Today is not going to be all work and no play as everyone needs something fun or enjoyable to do. One of the enjoyable things I plan on doing at some point today is some form art. I am not quite sure what type of artwork that I will do but it will either be color or diamond art/painting or maybe both but of course not at the same time.

I do not have anything else to discuss or write about in this particular blog post. 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, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!

A Day of Learning

Posted on by Gertie

Good Afternoon, World!!! It is a few minutes after three o’clock in the afternoon here in Seattle. I haven’t really done very much of anything due to not feeling well which means I have not left my apartment. I haven’t left my apartment as I don’t want to give other people in my apartment building or anybody else my cold. On a plus note at least my take home Covid test are all coming back negative which makes me so freaking happy.

Since I haven’t really left my apartment today due to not feeling well, I have been trying to stay productive with various educational opportunities and some personal growth opportunities as well as some training opportunities. I really enjoy being able to have learning and training opportunities as I enjoy being able to learn. As personal growth opportunities go, it can be quite challenging at times but well worth it in the long run.

Sadly, the training I was hoping to start and finish today, I could not do, due to a technical glitch that is not on my end. The training I was hoping to accomplish today is one for PAWS Cat City. It will allow me to learn more about cat behavior as well as being able to work with some cats who may be bit more socialization for various reasons. It is my hope that by the end of next year (2026) I can complete the various levels of training to be able to work with some of the sassier cats. On that note I am not sure if I have to wait a certain amount of time to take the next “level” of training and I am okay if I have to wait so I can get more hands-on experience after doing the online training.

Speaking of training, I did a continuing education course regarding my career path of being a peer specialist. I am not too sure about the course that I have been doing but I am learning something. Some of it is applicable to being a peer specialist and sadly I feel like the particular course I am taking is missing some vital information. I am hoping that when I finish the course that the vital information is discussed.

As far as the personal growth opportunity goes, I am doing a workbook for queer people who identify as trans or nonbinary, but I do know queer folks who do not identify as trans or nonbinary. The workbook’s focus is to build resiliency in your identity. Building resiliency can also be a part of other areas of life. The section I did today was quite challenging for me and I know it will ultimately help with accepting myself as well help me with my mental health recovery. I am grateful I have workbooks to do to help me improve myself.

I do not have anything else to discuss or write about in the particular blog post. I do want to thank you the reader for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated on my end 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!!!

Thinking About Self Improvement & Recovery

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World!!! It is a few minutes after four o’clock in the morning here in Seattle. I am not sure why I am up so early, but I am and sadly I am not feeling very well. It appears to me that I have a cold as I did a home Covid test last night as well as this morning and both tests came negative. I will be taking another take home Covid test this evening as I want to make sure that I don’t have Covid and if I do then I will self-isolate to make sure I don’t give it to anyone else. I am wearing a mask in public because I don’t even want to give this cold to anyone.

Even though I am not feeling well, I am still planning on doing what I want to accomplish today or at least start what I want to accomplish. There are a couple of continuing education course I want to take through the State of Washington that is for already certified peer support specialist. I am wanting to do this just to learn more as well as needing to take them for future trainings as peer. Plus, I love learning especially when it comes to my career of choice as a peer specialist.

Speaking of my chosen career choice, I have been applying for jobs as a peer support specialist. In fact, I have two job interviews next week for two different teams at the same agency. One is parttime and is not temporary job while the other if fulltime but temporary that last 18 months. In all honesty, I really hope I get the parttime job for various reasons. One of which I think I could succeed in the particular job.

Since I brought up wanting to succeed in a future workplace, I have been setting some goals for my recovery. One of those goals is to continue to work my way through some recovery related workbooks. I enjoy doing workbooks as a form of self-improvement as well as to help me with my recovery especially in between sessions with my therapist. Plus, completing recovery related workbooks allows me to help clients with improving themselves and I can inform them on how the workbook helped me with my own recovery.

Another way that I am focusing on self-improvement, and recovery is by watching TED Talks videos. There are so many TED Talks that I can learn from and not just with self-improvement, but other topics as well including how to deal with grief as I recently lost both of my parents. Hell, there is even a series for cat people like me.

Speaking of cats, I got approved to take the next level of cat behavior training for PAWS Cat City. It is online and I am looking forward to it. I can do it at my own pace, which is a good thing, but my plan is to do it in one sitting later today. I really enjoy working with cats or in this case volunteering with cats and not just with PAWS Cat City but Alley Cat Project (ACP) as well. Even though my volunteer position with Alley Cat Project (ACP) doesn’t have me directly working with cats, I am still helping cats. On that note I am really excited about taking the next level of cat behavior training for PAWS Cat City especially since I do have direct contact with cats at PAWS Cat City.

I do not have anything else to discuss or write about in this particular blog post. 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!!!

Insomnia Strikes Again

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World!!! It is a few minutes after two o’clock in the morning here in Seattle. I am sadly unable to sleep again due to insomnia. I am not a big fan of not being able to sleep as getting a good night’s sleep is crucial both physical health and mental health.

Speaking of mental health, since I am unable to sleep, I have been working on a recovery related workbook. I find that working on recovery related workbooks help me with my recovery and allows me to look inward on how I can improve myself and lessen the symptoms of my mental health challenges. The recovery related workbooks also helps me in between session with my therapist.

In addition to working on recovery related workbooks, I have been reading. I am reading the second book in a dark queer fantasy series. I am really enjoying the book as well as the series. Reading helps me get out of my head and is a way for me to focus on something other than my current problems.

I do not have much more to discuss or write about in this particular except that I am going to curl up with my cat, Billie and read. 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; What Topics Do You Like To Discuss?

Posted on by Gertie
Daily writing prompt
What topics do you like to discuss?
View all responses

The topics I like to discuss are cats, mental health challenges and recovery. I love talking about cats because I have one myself and volunteering with cats at two different animal welfare nonprofit organizations. I love cats and love talking about them.

The other topic I like to discuss is mental health challenges and recovery. People without mental health challenges tend to think that those of us who have them are not productive members of society. I also like to discuss mental health and recovery because I am in recovery and I have worked in the mental health field.

Weekly Plans

Posted on by Gertie

Sunday

  • Mindfulness meditation through the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Volunteer at PAWS Cat City
  • Attend a hybrid 12 step meeting
  • Work on a recovery related workbook
  • Read
  • Art (coloring and/or diamond art/painting)

Monday

  • Mindfulness meditation through the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Attend an online 12 step meeting
  • Volunteer with Alley Cat Project by returning calls and emails.
  • Attend a second online 12 step meeting
  • Work on a recovery related workbook
  • Read
  • Art (coloring and/or diamond art/painting)

Tuesday

  • Mindfulness meditation through the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Attend an online 12 step meeting
  • Volunteer at PAWS Cat City
  • Work on a recovery related workbook
  • Attend an online orientation to volunteer at the Seattle Aquarium
  • Read
  • Art (coloring and/or diamond art/painting)

Wednesday

  • Mindfulness meditation through the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Attend an online 12 step meeting
  • Appointment with my therapist
  • Lunch with my partner and some close friends at Red Robin
  • Attend a second online 12 step meeting
  • Work on a recovery related workbook
  • Read
  • Art (coloring and/or diamond art/painting)

Thursday

  • Mindfulness meditation through the Calm App
  • Morning walk
  • Attend an online 12 step meeting
  • Volunteer with Alley Cat Project by returning calls and emails
  • Work on a recovery related workbook
  • Read
  • Art (coloring and/or diamond art/painting)

Friday

  • Mindfulness meditation through the Calm App
  • Morning Walk
  • Attend an online 12 step meeting
  • Volunteer with Alley Cat Project by returning calls and emails
  • Work on a recovery related workbook
  • Dinner with my partner at Red Robin
  • Read
  • Art (coloring and/or diamond art/painting)

Saturday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice through the Calm App
  • Morning Walk
  • U-District Farmer Market with one of my closest friends
  • Attend an online 12 step meeting
  • Lunch with a high school friend at Red Robin
  • Attend a second online 12 step meeting
  • Work on a recovery related workbook
  • Read
  • Art (coloring and/or diamond art/painting)

Daily Prompt; What Gives You Direction in Life?

Posted on by Gertie
Daily writing prompt
What gives you direction in life?
View all responses

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.

Holiday Traditions

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! I would like to inform you of my own personal holiday traditions as it was suggested to me to start my own early on in my mental health recovery. The reason why it was suggested to me is because of some of the unrealistic holiday traditions that were placed on me by my family. No disrespect to my family as I love them very much but creating my own holiday traditions have helped me cope with my family as well helped me cope with my PTSD and depression.

When it was suggested to me by my therapist at the time early on in my mental health recovery the only thing I could think of regarding traditions for myself was comic books. Specifically two comic books that focused on Christmas. In fact the comic books I am speaking of are Christmas with the Superhero’s volume one and two by DC comics.

Over the years I have added to my holiday traditions. I have included the typical traditions of watching movies and listening to music. I have also included with the help of friends of the Jewish faith of spending a night or two or three celebrating Hanukkah with my friends who celebrate it. I am grateful that I can help celebrate Hanukkah with my friends who celebrate it. Besides watching holiday movies, listening to holiday music and spending two or three nights celebrating Hanukkah, I have included the following traditions to my list: reading holiday focused books, doing holiday or wintery focused jigsaw puzzles, doing holiday focused logic puzzles, doing Christmas dot to dot, and doing artwork focused on holidays or wintery scenes which includes coloring and diamond art/painting.

Now that I informed you of what I do for my own holiday traditions, it is challenging to know how my family traditions will change this year and next year due to my mom passing away two days before Thanksgiving. I say this year and next year as this year it is so fresh. I know I will keep some of the Christmas traditions my mom instilled upon me. As far as my dad’s side of the family they will still celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve as one of my uncle’s birthday is on Christmas and celebrate his birthday on Christmas.

I do not have anything else 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 continuing to write my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Peace Out and Happy Holidays, World!!!