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2 Weeks in Cartagena: What I Learned About Myself
Two weeks in Cartagena taught me just how much my mental illness limits me. So boom, I did my almost annual international birthday trip and decided to really challenge myself this time. After multiple covid infections plus a concussion, I have been worried about cognitive decline and struggling with anything involving memorization and concentration. So instead of my four days to one week of birthday travel, I decided to spend two weeks in Cartagena, Colombia for leisure and to attend immersive Spanish classes. This ended up being the worst international trip that I’ve taken thus far. All of the negative parts about this trip had nothing to do with the…
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Committable: A Podcast You Need To Listen To
I am back to let you all (all 2 of you lol) know about a podcast I stumbled upon called Committable. A lot of feelings came up for me while listening to it and I needed to share them and also give this podcast its flowers. The host, Jesse Mangan, started the podcast to try and figure out what happened twenty years ago when he was involuntarily committed by something called a “Section 12.” He and the show’s producers interview lawyers, Jesse’s family members, and other professionals to gain clarity on what happened as well as the whys and hows. I think what really got me about this podcast is…
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Nobody Was Asking for All That
We are once again in the time of year where mental health issues are exacerbated by the changing seasons and holidays that can trigger negative emotions. That means people will be discussing their down times more often, especially on social media. This is where I start to see hypocrisy spill out. Whenever someone famous succumbs to a mental illness you see endless threads about “reach out to loved ones”, “don’t feel ashamed”, “ask for help if you need it”, etc. But once the initial shock wheres off, so does the general public’s empathy. Lately, I’ve been seeing more and more posts stating that “your significant other/ friends aren’t your therapist…
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When You Can’t Win For Losing
The past year has been an extremely trying time for me. Despite accomplishing some great things and strengthening many friendships, I’ve been teetering on the edge of a complete breakdown, but trying to hide it. This past Friday is the day that I finally broke. This will be a long story, but I hope that you continue to read and it changes how you view the welfare/disability system and the people that have to rely on it. I’ve previously written about how important working is to me. So much so that I’ve tried year after year to work full time in the hopes that I would no longer need to…
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Finding Balance: Major Key Alert
After years and years of either overworking myself or not doing enough, I’m realizing just how important finding balance is. This isn’t to say that I have finally found that space, I’m just actively working to get there. I’m expressing my boundaries to people and utilizing the word “no” with others and myself. Not overworking myself or stretching myself too thin is something I’ve struggled with for a long time. It stems from not wanting my mental illness to define me or limit me, and proving others wrong. I wanted to prove to the naysayers that what they said I couldn’t do, I really could. From the teachers and doctors that…
