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Tag: #mentalhealth

A General Life Update

‘Ello!

How are you?? Thanks for stopping in today for a little life update. It’s been a while. As the Memorial Day holiday has passed, songs of summer are being sung. Birds corral our bird feeder, the tree frogs sing us to sleep, and the highways are bumper to bumper with travelers. It appears that society is waking up after two years of isolation. At least that is how the buzz feels to me. Alive.

That is how I feel.

Alive

My S.A.D. season is in the rear view mirror and I … made it through unscathed. No deaths, accidents, or tragedy (except Ukraine situation). My personal scope of life is expanding after months of hibernation. I feel well rested and ready to take advantage of the summer however possible. Over the last month or so we’ve potted multiple plants, maintained the yard, and have added small touches of landscaping. The smallest detail makes a world of difference.

Biggest news is the addition to our family!! We rescued a puppy. Like literally off the side of the road. Someone abandoned her and we rescued not long after. I say that because she wasn’t in distress, matted, or exhausted when we found her. We put out posters with her picture on it to no avail. Three weeks after fostering her I decided to take her to a local no-kill shelter. Fast forward to the day I was scheduled to drop her and I couldn’t. We had already fallen in love. Maggie aka Moo is a mix of life, mischief, and love. She has been received with love.

It’s already hot here in Louisiana and my car ac has started to act up. Last April while dashing I flooded my car in a torrential downpour. I am lucky to know a mechanic that was able to salvage my car because neither my insurance or DoorDash would cover the accident. Long story but I was screwed nonetheless. Now a year later and my ac works when it wants to and in Louisiana that equals misery. It isn’t something I can just deal with by rolling the windows down. My medication raises my body temperature making it dangerous for me to get too hot. Fingers crossed I get it fixed sooner than later.

My sister got married on the 14th of May and it was a beautiful ceremony filled with love. Guests enjoyed the deejay, dancing the night away. The kids stayed at the photo booth printing photos of themselves with silly props. The bride and the groom mingled and took tons of photos! It was the event of the century🤓 So now I have a brother-in-law!

There is a lot that has happened and I’m sure they will come to mind after I publish this post ☺️ I’ll go ahead and wrap it up here. I hope you are enjoying the series Monday Morning Mantra. If you want more frequent life updates, subscribe to receive the Garden newsletter.

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In Honor of Mental Health Awareness Month: My Experience

Here at Revenge of Eve we openly discuss mental health. While I am not a resource for maintaining mental health, I suffer from mental illness. I am not ashamed to have multiple diagnoses.

If you are interested, you can find my story here and here.

With May being Mental Health Awareness Month, I decided to discuss ways I get on with life, thriving despite my mental illness.

Creativity

If you’ve been around here for any length of time, you know I am an avid journal writer. I enjoy using my journal to write my daily activities, thoughts, and plans. I also like to explore my creativity using handmade journals. I am fortunate that my stationery obsession and paper craft hobby collide. Because of this I have many materials to choose from when I want to create.

I collect ephemera and add it to my handmade journals with memos to remind me of the activity or reference it’s origin. Documenting life this way helps me to slow down. Having the tactical items to look back on brings immense joy to my day.

Every Monday I draw cards from multiple decks to help guide my week. From these decks two are affirming and encouraging. You may be familiar with my drawings as I share them here with y’all! The series Monday Morning Mantra is a weekly drawing but a daily reference. I write each phrase, an affirmation and an encouragement, daily in my journal. I use the cards to guide my week. If I find myself struggling with negative thoughts or self-talk, I refer to the cards drawn. It is a practice that works wonders on my mindset 🤓

Self-Care

Believe it or not but journaling is an avenue of self-care. It is the number one way I tend to myself. While I journal I am mindful, present, and actively honoring my thoughts, ideas, and desires. Self-care is often sold as pampering oneself and while that can be considered self-care, there is far more work involved in caring for yourself. Through the years of learning to love myself I learned it takes some elbow grease but once you’ve loosened the years of excess, the gunk wipes away easily. Metaphorically speaking.

Journaling is part of my daily self-care routine. Other ways I take care of myself are by saying no when I cannot commit to something. Albeit whether it’s because I don’t want to or if I can’t, it doesn’t matter. Learning to say no without an explanation has made a positive impact on my life.

I typically do my own manicures and pedicures 1. because it saves money and 2. because I have been professionally trained to do so but recently I paid to enjoy the experience. I started a new job in November and as a reward for sticking it out I paid to have a natural manicure and a pedicure. It was the best $65 ($75 with tip) I’ve spent all year!!

A puzzle missing a piece

Routine

Having a routine is important for our mental health. This isn’t to say that you can’t stray but having a guided timeline for your day is helpful for everyone’s mental stability.

My mental stability is provided by medication, however, having a rough timeline to follow plays a huge role. I wake at the same time, work the same hours, and go to bed about the same time every night. My coffee and food intake habits are sparse throughout the day. Same as other activities; journaling. Trying to balance those is enough to keep me afloat and productive. I try to limit my scrolling time. Some days are better than others.

Relationships

A huge factor of living with mental illness comes down to support. I receive support from my family. Not financial rather emotional. They challenge me, trust me, encourage me, and most importantly, they listen to me. It hasn’t always been this way though. Having a mood disorder and addictions aren’t the easiest variables to deal with. There have been many misunderstandings, wrong assumptions, and unknowingly, enabling. Luckily we pushed through the difficult times and came out on the other side.

Friendships are an important part on thriving with mental illness. Various forms of relationships can apply. You may have made friends via the internet or it can be a friend that you have in the physical world. Support is support and it can be shown through a variety of routes.

Medication

And last but not least; medication. Having bipolar 1 (rapid cycling) means I have elated and depressed moods that shift frequently. These highs and lows can reach dangerous levels when not medicated. Mania (high) often involves impulsivity, irritability, anger, and grandiose ideas. Whereas with depression comes suicidal ideation, oversleeping, overeating, and numbness. These are general symptoms and those I cope with the most.

My medication, when taken correctly, stabilizes the influx in moods. It gives me a baseline that I cannot achieve without it. The unfortunate side effects of my medication are hypoglycemia and I cannot spend time a lot of time in the sun. I am also prone to boredom and feeling flat. My passion for life is nonexistent. That is the worst side effect but it is something I cope with so that I can function as a member of society, ie: work 😒

So how about you? How do you thrive despite mental illness? Do you or someone you love struggle with mental illness?

Content

The forest and rain Revenge of Eve photography
Revenge of Eve

Cleanse me rain

from this clear

and

ever-present pain

Wash over

the tear stains

Make me pure

Give me a chance to gain

Clear my mind

Leave it sane

Cleanse my soul

beneath its frame

Settle the emotions

aching to achieve

Allow me to be

Content on living

peacefully

Monday Morning Mantra

Good morning ladies & gents.

Monday Morning Mantra

Each Monday I shuffle and draw two cards from two sources, a box set and a deck. The box set boasts encouragement, self-love, goals and focus while the deck affirms our individual power. I then use the two cards to guide me throughout the week. I place the cards on my refrigerator as a visual reference and I write them daily in my journal as written reference. If I find myself experiencing unwanted emotions or challenging thoughts I refer to the cards drawn. I have found this to be an empowering and powerful exercise. One that I decided to share with my readers.

Week of March 21-March 28

I hope this Monday finds y’all well. This week’s encouragement reminds us the importance of breath work. If you find yourself frustrated, confused, or angry, find your center again by taking deep breaths. For so long I thought just breathe meant others dealt with things better than me when really breathing assist in regulating emotions. Give it a try!!

Just breathe graphic
Encouragement
Box set by Dayna Lee

When an unwanted emotion arises, take a full 60 seconds to yourself. During this minute take slow breaths in and exhale. I find placing my hand over my heart helps me focus on the breath. By the end of the 60 seconds I can tell a significant difference in my heart rate and the way I feel. The important part of this breathing exercise is to allow the emotion but encourage it to pass. Do not focus on how you feel rather the breath itself. You may find it difficult to stop your thoughts but do not allow yourself to ruminate. This exercise works for everyone and it is simple enough to give a try. Once you experience it’s power, you will find yourself harnessing power through breath work.

Best part about the affirmation that was drawn today is it encourages awareness which is what breathing brings about. Embracing your power through breathing exercises is empowering. Learning to do so takes practice not perfection. A friendly reminder that it is I (insert you) who is in control.

I celebrate my progress. Awareness, not perfection, is the goal graphic
Affirmation
Deck by Gabrielle Bernstein

Donate

A young lady, Anastasia, reached out to me via email. She is raising money to escape Russia with her family. She asked if I could place an ad on my website to promote her fundraising. I do not offer ad placement at this time so I included her link in todays post to gain some exposure. Unfortunately, I am not in a position to donate myself. I encourage any of you reading this to decide if this is a cause you can contribute to. Thank you for your considerations.

Do you practice mediation breathing? Do affirmations help guide you? Comment below if you find these weekly cards helpful. I love hearing from you ☺️

To Be Me

I Am

A journey of hope

I am fallible

Failing daily

To succeed

I struggle

to be

To be

Free

Free

from judgement

Opinion

And critique

To speak openly

Of life as a tragedy

Without pressure

To be

Happy

Void of emotions

Medicated

Stone

I’m not

Alone

A travesty of its

Own

Nose deep

We breathe our

Phone

To look up is

To

See deceit

Vulnerability

Isn’t pretty

Yet

society bundles

It

With a bow

I rock that shit

I make

Rawness

Glow

Deep down

It’s

All I

Know

Exposed

Is

To be

Me.