Saw this Pepper Day linkup and thought Perfect! This blog needs waking up! I usually accompany that (this blog has had a few wake up calls lol) with trying out something new. Launching a few projects within the week and needless to say, I’m excited how it’ll turn out. Figured I needed to do something to divert my attention from the news and current events that pull me down from prolonged exposure and re-channel my energy to more productive pursuits. I also don’t want to feel helpless with all that’s going on and so the projects are my way of helping out while learning something new, in the process. Wish me luck!
This week felt like a turtle crawl in a bit of a haze. Mid-week I was actually surprised it’s not yet the 2nd week of December. Usually, I make a mental note of things to accomplish in a week (on paper if there’s a lot), a grocery list of things that have run out prior to the scheduled grocery trip and then semi-plan something else to do or find someplace to go. I limit list-making to these now but I used to be big on lists.
One list I started recently that I’m actually excited about is the list of ideas that come to me anytime of the day. I don’t filter anything yet, but maybe when it gets too long I can start hacking at it. Right now it’s a bunch of things I want to learn, some projects I can tackle this year and next. It’s a good exercise and I highly recommend it.
These days I’m also spending more time in the university of youtube and academy of podcasts for learning or entertainment. I still love reading (long-form on good days or listicles/list posts on lazier days) a few times a day, but warming up to other styles of learning (aural/linguistic) other than my usual visual, solitary or kinesthetic approach.
I found this very informative talk/video encouraging, stimulating and hopeful in almost equal parts. While the responsibility lies largely on this generation, it helps paint a brighter future if we start getting our act together as a global community and start working together instead of in silos, enormous challenges in themselves but not impossible. Which other generation has had the privilege to solve the world’s problems with all the information we need at our fingertips?
Another video I found highly informative and inspiring is this ted talk by Simon Anholt. It’s encouraging to know that about 10% of the world’s population share the same values/perspective as global citizens/globalists. That can make up a country with the 3rd highest population in the world. If you think in these terms, know that you are not alone in worrying about our future and where the world is headed.
I guess there is a time for everything, and when better to have your head above the clouds than now. More details here on how to be a citizen scientist and work with planet patrol.
I may have made a few mistakes over the weekend. After treating ourselves to a rare sushi and beer (delivery, of course) and feeling good about the week (last week) in general, hubby and I decided to check out the Trump-Biden debate over youtube. We survived but not unscathed. It was…headache-inducing. i feel for my American friends who can’t help but rant about politics every now and then. I’m not an American, but the debate was just a bit much and I caught myself trying to recover with a bunch of SNL/The Late Show clips, standups and armchair travel. Then the news came that Trump and FLOTUS caught the Covid-19 virus. Frankly, I did not have a case of schadenfreude. It put a lot of people at risk of exposure, maybe even Biden and all those who went to the debate.
Let’s go back to the question/title. I find myself having several recovery approaches to stresses, trauma or tragedy that come my way. Especially these days, I find them essential to mental/emotional health. It’s easier to know when recovery is needed physically when you can’t feel your legs after a few laps or a marathon, not so much for other aspects of our health. I intend to explore this in several posts. And I’m curious, how are you dealing with life’s stresses, then and now? What have you learned about yourself in the process? So far, what I’ve learned is that when I don’t prioritize my well-being and let stress go on for too long and unnecessarily so, my physical manifestations can either be hair loss or that one case, bell’s palsy. Although the cause for the latter is largely unknown still, it showed itself up for me while I was going through an extremely stressful time in my life spanning a year. This was back in University almost two decades ago and since then, I’ve made it a point to take care of myself more actively, call it self-care if you will.
Forest bathing is good for your health. Photo by Felix Mittermeier on Pexels.comPhoto by Madison Inouye on Pexels.com
World Suicide Prevention Day 2020 (Sept. 10) aims to raise awareness that suicide is preventable. This year’s theme and for the 3rd consecutive year now is “Working Together to Prevent Suicide“, emphasizing the crucial role collaboration plays in suicide prevention.
It’s never too late to learn more about this issue. Here are some suicide facts.
Who’s ready to get off this roller coaster? Bazinga, no dice! We are strapped in like fat toddlers to professionally installed car seats and this hellish ride ain’t stopping anytime soon. What am I talking about? COVID? Racial unrest? The economy? Politics? Riots and looting? Wildfires? Square dancing hurricanes? Climate change? Well, all of it, of course. We are in it, my friends. Oh. Yeah.
Goodbyes are tough…for most people. But not for me. It’s always been easy for me to up and go, reflect on events and even tragedies, pick up my lessons, and move on. Maybe I take after my mom or guardian, or it runs in the family. Who knows, really.
But there was a time when it was tough. I think only by getting used to it did it become easy. Certainly, moving more than a couple of times, leaving friends behind, and letting go of ‘stuff’ to lighten the load made it easier along the way. The downside is the value and meaning of people and things fade, or at least take longer to mean something. After all, deepening roots and being invested in anything don’t happen instantly, anything worthwhile does take some time.
But I still think it’s worth taking back. After all, learning to value, appreciate and love are correlated to REALLY living. A wake-up call was when I tried to look back at the last 5 years of my life in my early 20s and nothing memorable came to mind. That’s when I knew I had to change things up a bit.
Pretty early on I’ve also come to realize that at least 3 lessons enable maturity, that is, learning to forgive, to let go and to love. The latter speeds up the growing up process but the former two are just as important to adulting. Staring death in the face (thrice) early in life made this crystal clear. In the face of my biological mom in her deathbed who had too many regrets in life, to another who succumbed to cancer peacefully, and then with my best friend passing so soon in life, I became forever changed. At that moment, I think having purpose suddenly became important. Nothing is to be taken for granted.
On a (slightly) lighter note, I’ve learned that happiness is a choice. Whether or not the choice entails leaving a relationship, a toxic environment or even your past behind, or staying knowing or not if there’s hope for change, boils down to a decision. Only after this conscious step can there come peace, acceptance, or at least, resignation.
How about you, what are your biggest life lessons so far?
I blog about life as an Autistic female with Bipolar 2, giving parenting & marriage my best shot. I am a passionate Advocate for Autism & Mental Health. I'll make you laugh & cry. And I promise you the truth, the whole truth & nothing but the truth.