Tag: mental health

Simple Sundays

Simple Sunday- Mental Health

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“Anxiety is a living body,
Poised beside us like a shadow.
It is the last creature standing,
The only beast who loves us
Enough to stay.”
― Amanda Gorman, Call Us What We Carry: Poems

“What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor, and more unashamed conversation.” – Glenn Close

“Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary.” – Fred Rogers

“Humanity is so weird. If we’re not laughing, we’re crying or running for our lives because monsters are trying to eat us. And they don’t even have to be real monsters. They could be the ones we make up in our heads. Don’t you think that’s weird?”
― T.J. Klune, The House in the Cerulean Sea

“When you come out of the grips of a depression there is an incredible relief, but not one you feel allowed to celebrate. Instead, the feeling of victory is replaced with anxiety that it will happen again, and with shame and vulnerability when you see how your illness affected your family, your work, everything left untouched while you struggled to survive. We come back to life thinner, paler, weaker … but as survivors. Survivors who don’t get pats on the back from coworkers who congratulate them on making it. Survivors who wake to more work than before because their friends and family are exhausted from helping them fight a battle they may not even understand. I hope to one day see a sea of people all wearing silver ribbons as a sign that they understand the secret battle, and as a celebration of the victories made each day as we individually pull ourselves up out of our foxholes to see our scars heal, and to remember what the sun looks like.”
― Jenny Lawson, Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things

Simple Sundays

Simple Sunday- Mental Health

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Depression is like a bruise that never goes away. A bruise in your mind. You just got to be careful not to touch it where it hurts. It’s always there, though.”
― Jeffrey Eugenides, The Marriage Plot

“Humanity is so weird. If we’re not laughing, we’re crying or running for our lives because monsters are trying to eat us. And they don’t even have to be real monsters. They could be the ones we make up in our heads. Don’t you think that’s weird?”
― T.J. Klune, The House in the Cerulean Sea

“Feelings don’t try to kill you, even the painful ones. Anxiety is a feeling grown too large. A feeling grown aggressive and dangerous. You’re responsible for its consequences, you’re responsible for treating it. But…you’re not responsible for causing it. You’re not morally at fault for it. No more than you would be for a tumor.”
― Patrick Ness, The Rest of Us Just Live Here

“You always say such lovely things to me, Red. Do you say them to yourself?”
― Talia Hibbert, Get a Life, Chloe Brown

“What people never understand is that depression isn’t about the outside; it’s about the inside. Something inside me is wrong. Sure, there are things in my life that make me feel alone, but nothing makes me feel more isolated and terrified than my own voice inside my head.”
― Jasmine Warga

“Therapy doesn’t mean you’re broken. It just means you might need a little help being whole.”
― Nicole Zelniker, Letters I’ll Never Send

Simple Sundays

Simple Sunday- Mental Health

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“There is no excuse for using someone’s mental health as a stick with which to beat them.”- Luciana Berger

“I knew well enough that one could fracture one’s legs and arms and recover afterward, but I did not know that you could fracture the brain in your head and recover from that too.” ― Vincent van Gogh

“It’s like any other part of your body – your mental health gets sick, and it needs treatment.”- Olly Alexander

“Around a third of parents still worry that they will look like a bad mother or father if their child has a mental health problem. Parenting is hard enough without letting prejudices stop us from asking for the help we need for ourselves and our children.”-Kate Middleton

“Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary.” — Fred Rogers

Simple Sundays

Simple Sunday- Mental Health

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“Silence is so freaking loud.” ― Sarah Dessen, Just Listen

“I found that with depression, one of the most important things you can realize is that you’re not alone. You’re not the first to go through it, you’re not gonna be the last to go through it,” — Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

“Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary.” — Fred Rogers

“Anyone can be affected, despite their level of success or their place on the food chain. In fact, there is a good chance you know someone who is struggling with it since nearly 20% of American adults face some form of mental illness in their lifetime. So why aren’t we talking about it?” — Kristen Bell

“Together with open conversations and greater understanding, we can ensure that attitudes for mental health change and children receive the support they deserve.”- Kate Middleton

Simple Sundays

Simple Sunday- Mental Health Awareness Month

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“I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness – it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude.” – Brene Brown

“Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increase the burden: It is easier to say “My tooth is aching” than to say “My heart is broken”.” -C.S. Lewis

“One of the things that baffles me (and there are quite a few) is how there can be so much lingering stigma with regards to mental illness, specifically bipolar disorder. In my opinion, living with manic depression takes a tremendous amount of balls. Not unlike a tour of Afghanistan (though the bombs and bullets, in this case, come from the inside). At times, being bipolar can be an all-consuming challenge, requiring a lot of stamina and even more courage, so if you’re living with this illness and functioning at all, it’s something to be proud of, not ashamed of. They should issue medals along with the steady stream of medication.”

― Carrie Fisher, Wishful Drinking

“A failure is not always a mistake, it may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying.”- B. F. Skinner

“We have to go into the despair and go beyond it, by working and doing for somebody else, by using it for something else.” – Elie Wiesel

Fancy and Sewing
Crafty · Life Posts · Sewing

Fancy and Sewing

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Fancy has decided to monitor my sewing and bedtime in a more active capacity lately. She decided the quilt in the quilting hoop was actually a dog tent and a wonderful place to nap.

She doesn’t try to bite it or anything, so I thought it was funny, but then she decided napping on my lap wasn’t good enough and proceeded to climb up my torso until she was tucked in under my chin. That made it very hard to keep quilting, so I just had to stop and cuddle the dog. This quilt is a secret, so I can’t show much of it yet. Oddly, it matched my leggings perfectly. 🙂

Last night, I was quilting again and she decided that 11:30 pm was too late and I should be sleeping, so she did this. It’s a little blurry, because she was moving, but she kept pawing at me until I put down the quilt and then she took over my lap and wouldn’t move.

She will also hang out by my sewing machine, especially when the Husband was out of town. I thought the machine might be scary for her, but even my Grandma’s machine doesn’t seem to faze her. This was her from last week.

Luckily, she didn’t try to guard the pedal.

I got the fabrics for all the quilt tops I need to finish last Friday and since we were dogless, I was able to get the two bigger ones pinned. Here is the second one.

I have started putting the Rainbow Rail Fence quilt together. It’s on the machine, so no pictures yet.

Fancy is currently snuggled up next to me on the couch with her paws draped over my feet, so I can’t get up. 🙂 She’s snoring as usual.

I’ve been working hard on these couple of quilts and haven’t really sewn anything else. I did get grey satiny fabric to go with my grey and purple lace. I think I might make that into a dress for the wedding. I have enough for a fancy slim fitting dress.

In other news, I’m excited to say that I was included in a roundup post about sewing and mental health on the Sewcialists blog. I have been reading the blog for a little while now and when they put out a call for stories of how sewing has helped your mental health, I knew I had to write my story. Check it out if you are interested! There are some inspiring stories out there. I’m planning on writing a longer post about this issue as well.  https://sewcialists.wordpress.com/2018/03/12/who-we-are-sewing-with-and-for-mental-health/

Now, I’ve got to get some quilting done before work. It’s my late night at work, so I won’t have a lot of time tonight. Have a great day!

25 Days, Sewing, and Anxiety
Life Posts · Recipe Roundup

25 Days, Sewing, and Anxiety

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So since most of you know me pretty well, I wanted to share a little bit more about what my life has been like lately. I have some anxiety traits or trends, I guess, which started back in grad school. I’ve since officially been diagnosed with Anxiety Disorder, which went away for a bit. Lately it’s flared again, mostly due to transitions, I think.

I’m struggling with over thinking every decision, from what to wear to what to write about on the blog. Even what cookie to make next is freaking me out. Once I start mixing dough, I do feel a bit zen-like though, it’s just the decision part.

Our fridge has a whiteboard which used to have freezer meals on it, but is currently holding a list of tasks that I want to get done broken down by day. It changes, but never seems to get any littler.

As a counselor, especially one specializing in working with people with anxiety, you’d think I would be better able to manage my own, but it’s not exactly as easy as that.  I can tell people all day how to breathe, how to have self-care, and how to relax, but when it comes to me doing it? Ha.

The pupper is very good at helping me relax, she sits on me when she senses I’m upset and snuggles me in the mornings.  She also forces me out of bed most mornings to take her for a walk or play with her, which helps. She also has begun to tell us when it should be bed time. 🙂

She’s a snuggle bug for sure.

Now, I try very hard not to let the anxiety take over, but lately it’s been making it very hard for me to do things like post on my normal schedule or get household stuff done. I’m determined though and been through worse before, so I will not let it get to the point that it did before, full panic attacks and all. I need to do things like bake and sew and read my stack of library books. Sticking to a schedule helps me feel like I have a purpose and control too, which helps me calm down and stop freaking out. That’s where this blog comes in. Posting helps me plan my days and even when stressful can be a good way for me to actually get out what’s bothering me.

So now that I’ve gotten that long-winded explanation of why my posts have been inconsistent, I’ll get back to recipes and sewing.

I made two pot holders on my sewing day with Kayla. I went to her house, so I didn’t have to worry about Fancy guarding the sewing machines or trying to eat our lunch. 🙂

They are double lined with the cool reflective hot pad material. I lined the back with the brown polka dots that is around the edges. They each have a loop on them for hanging. I’ve been using them a lot and it’s kind of fun to have holiday themed household items to use. They are about 8 inches.

For cookies, I left off at the non Food Network recipes, so here are some more that I’ve made.

1- No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars from Sally’s Baking Addiction. https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2013/07/02/no-bake-reeses-peanut-butter-bars/

These were surprisingly good. I don’t think I got a picture though, they got eaten quick. 🙂 I was nervous about the graham cracker crumbs, but it did taste pretty much exactly like a Reese’s cup. I would make these again.

2- Gluten Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies by Spinach for Breakfast. http://www.spinach4breakfast.com/pumpkin-chocolate-chip-cookies-2/

The office manager at work said “Well, I guess if you can’t have gluten or dairy, they would be good.”  🙂 They tasted a bit under baked, even after baking them for over the amount of time. I don’t have a lot of experience making gluten-free baked goods, so I don’t have much to compare them too. Taste-wise, you got both the pumpkin and cinnamon.

3- Chewy Chocolate Cookies from A Quilter’s Christmas. 

These tasted very chocolaty, but they had so much sugar in them that the Husband said that it felt like he was chewing on sugar. I don’t think I’ll make these again. They were not a hit with us, although they did get eaten at both of our workplaces.

4- Flourless Chocolate Orange Cookies from Grandbaby Cakes. http://www.grandbaby-cakes.com/2015/01/flourless-chocolate-orange-cookies/

These are also dairy free, which meant my craft lady friend could eat them. She, in fact, volunteered to save us from the rest of them, which I thought was so nice of her. 😉 These will be going on the party list.

They were utterly delicious, kind of like a meringue base. Not very sweet actually for having a lot of powdered sugar in them. The orange smelled very strong, but was just the right amount.

Fancy has been giving me this face lot lately, as she hasn’t been getting any of the delicious smelling cookies coming out of the kitchen. I should make her  cinnamon spiced one, I think. She would like that.

She’s giving me the bedtime stare at the moment and I should probably listen to my own advice and go to bed. The Husband just started his very exciting Saturn 5 Lego set, so who knows when he will be sleeping.

Thanks for reading about my current emotional state! Sorry if you just came for cookie recipes and dog pictures. 🙂 I promise there will be more to come.