Oh My Passions!

Bonjour mes amis

From the title, I think you know what I'll be talking about today. If you guessed "passions", you're right. That is exactly what I want to share with you all.

When you have a mental illness, all you really want is to be back in control. I know I did, because losing that control drove me crazy. I wanted to stop my brain from going haywire, tell it to get back in line and stop messing around. But I couldn't because, sadly, life doesn't work that way. So I distracted myself with things that I loved. They calmed me down, and most importantly, stopped me from panicking.

My advice to you is to find something that makes you tick. Everybody has something. Mine is writing, more than anything else. A friend of mine who suffers from ADD loves drawing. And another friend of mine writes poems and draws pictures to go with them, when she's feeling depressed or lonely. Getting your feelings down on paper, through drawings, speaking, ranting, dancing, singing, whatever it is you love is the key to killing mental illness. Or, at the very least, trying to get the steering wheel back.

The next time mental illness sneaks up on you, find your thing. Grab your notebook, your sketchpad, your music, whatever. And just do. Focus all your energy on that one thing. Put your heart and soul and feelings into it. Another thing I love about getting this all down on paper is that when I decide to look back on it, I can be so proud of what I accomplished and overcame. It might also help you to realize, if you haven't already, that you need help to get through your mental illness, and you can do it. You just need to release your feelings.

Well, friends, stay strong. Keep on keeping on and do what's best. Always.

Yours in Kicking Mental Disorder's Out the Door,
Elizabeth

Self Love and Sharing Yourself

Hello Friends!

I promised you yesterday some wonderful tips on dealing with mental illness, and today, I'm going to be one hundred percent certain to give them to you. This is something I've been wanting to talk about for a while now, and I have the perfect opportunity to share it. I'll let you know more in a little bit. For now, just read on.

That shirt is what I wore today. I call it my butterfly shirt, because it's so big and bright and, when I stick my arms inside, it feels like I could fly from all the extra fabric. That black cuff is my daily "piece de resistence", or the most important thing I wear in the run of a day (forgive me for not including the accent things, I can't figure out how to do that!) As well, though you can't see them, I wear a pair of cowboy boots. I live in a city, so I stand out like a sore thumb.

My point is that I wear what makes me happy. I love my leather cuff, and my boots. My shirt is beautiful to me, and when I wear it, my confidence peaks. When you are comfortable with yourself, you can't help but exude a kind of flare that leaves people begging for your attention. And part of that relaxation comes from admitting who you are to the world.

Your mental illness is who you are. Its part of what makes you, well, YOU. Without that obstacle in your life, you wouldn't have done so many things, or met so many people. But in order to be truly okay with it, you need to talk about, especially if you haven't yet. Sharing your feelings, whether you're male or female, is the most important step in conquering your mental disorder, but it's hard, and I understand that.

If you need some help, start by talking to somebody online, or somebody that you trust a lot. That way, you know that the person wouldn't a) Ever share that information with anybody else because b) They don't have anybody that knows you well enough that their finding out about your mental illness would be detrimental. 

You can always be yourself, and always let your true colors shine. And now, here is the perfect opportunity to take that giant leap forward. A woman by the name of Amy Morby (I've never spoken with her, or seen her before) has started a revolution. This woman is a recovering anorexic, a mental illness that can have horrible results on your life, and is starting something in the month of February called "Self Love Month". You can click on the badge below to go to her website and sign the declaration of self love to commit to what she's doing.

 

You don't have to be anybody else but you. Embrace yourself and sign the declaration. My own personal challenge to you is to tell somebody about your mental illness. One person. I believe in you.

Your Insanely Sappy, Cheesy, But Well Meaning Friend,

Elizabeth 

P.S. I have a twitter now! You can follow me HERE!

Look Ma! No Hands!

Its been a while, I know. And from my heart, I send you my deepest condolences. I should tell you, however, that a lot of things have changed since the last time I posted here. 

1. A while back, I mentioned I volunteered at a senior's home. One of the men there (I think I told you about the man who had cancer), past away around the end of August. I miss him a lot.
2. I stopped volunteering at the senior's home. Being there, with all the memories of the people that I grew to love was starting to get a little more difficult than I could handle. After two years there, I finished up. As a bonus, they sent me a little gift card to my local movie theater, which was kind of them.
3. I'm in the process of getting a new volunteering job in my area. People, I've learned, are insanely difficult to work with. Don't give up, though, because you'll find a good enough person sooner or later.

And, probably the biggest change of all...

    4.   I GOT A THERAPIST! (cue cheers)

That's right, friends. I got myself a wonderful therapist who helped me through so many of the terrible thoughts that started coming back to me and it was all amazing and life started looking up again!
Then, IT happened.
One night, I missed an appointment. It was all just one big miscommunication and an accident, totally unintentional. So, she was called. And called. And called. But she never called back, never rescheduled an appointment and I haven't seen her now since October. It kind of stinks that the one woman that was kind of like my life preserver left me to drown. Little did she know, however, that she threw me enough rope to pull myself back to shore. I still have to fall asleep at night with the television on to cope with hard thoughts, but I've learned how to deal with my anxiety during the day. She was also the one that convinced me it was a good idea to leave the senior's home, and I think that was a wise decision.

In this post, I've talked so much about myself, I haven't given you much advice. Here's the thing: Keep on keeping on. I've heard that before, I can't remember where, but it's pretty awesome, isn't it? My therapist left me for a reason, but I had her long enough that I can deal. I can handle myself pretty well on a day to day basis, and some of that is because of her. But the rest is from the strength of myself, my friends and my family. We kept on keeping on, and didn't stop living because of nothing. Life isn't amazing right now, but it is so much better, you wouldn't believe.

I have some awesome tips for tomorrow, so don't you worry your little soul about that. Elizabeth's back, friends!

Kisses and Hugs (I've never liked xoxo),
Elizabeth