I’ve worked a variety of jobs over the past 14 years. Since the age of 16, I’ve had jobs in retail, corporate offices, two different mailing companies, a gas station, and a fast food place. A lot of these jobs sucked. Most of them did, in fact. Overdemanding managers, micromanagers, low pay, toxic environments, poorContinue reading “What’s The Purpose of Having A Purpose?”
Tag Archives: self help
Work(sheet) Your Way to a New You
In my journey of self-help and trauma recovery, one constant has remained: my incredibly low self-esteem. I often use other coping mechanisms to mask this fault, or I ride the highs when I am falsely full of self-confidence. Neither or healthy. So I’ve been trying to build up my self-esteem. I found this worksheet online,Continue reading “Work(sheet) Your Way to a New You”
What Happiness Looks Like
Today, for the first time in a very long time, I felt content and peaceful. I felt optimistic. I felt downright happy. This feeling has sort of been with me all day, but it just hit me tonight in the oddest way. I was putting away dishes while listening to Christmas music. A mundane, unmemorableContinue reading “What Happiness Looks Like”
Who Am I Without All the Adjectives?
With the place I’ve been in lately (spoiler alert: a really bad one), I’ve been searching for answers. It hasn’t been a perfectly linear journey, but the things I have found have been eye-opening. Case in point: this wonderful, wonderful blog post from Therapy Beyond the Couch. It walks you through an exercise about your “deepestContinue reading “Who Am I Without All the Adjectives?”
Five-Finger Relaxation Technique
I came across this awesome relaxation technique from the University of Chicago’s counseling services (of all places). That’s it. There’s no further instruction or dissecting of this technique. I found similar descriptions online, but nothing about how this is supposed to affect the mind or help you. Close your eyes. Touch your thumb to yourContinue reading “Five-Finger Relaxation Technique”
Putting Up Walls Isn’t Always Bad
You’ve most certainly heard people talk about the “walls” around someone’s heart, often their own. From romantics to poets to those who have been hurt and those who have been shut out, “putting up walls” seems to be a negative and gloomy concept. But putting up walls doesn’t have to be bad (unless you’re DonaldContinue reading “Putting Up Walls Isn’t Always Bad”
Using the Bare Minimum for Maximum Mental Health
When you suffer from a mental illness, every small thing in your path can feel like a gigantic obstacle. On the down days, your mind is chaos, everything inside you feels like clutter, and you don’t know what to do to feel better, much less be productive. But who says you have to be productive? DoingContinue reading “Using the Bare Minimum for Maximum Mental Health”
They Want Me to Find the Gray Area, but I’m Full-Blown Color
I once had a friend tell me, “scruples and you never got along well, did you?”. An ex-boyfriend told me that I did “no things by halves”. I never thought of myself as an extremist–all up or all down, all in or all out, passionate or totally apathetic, black or white. But maybe I am. The moreContinue reading “They Want Me to Find the Gray Area, but I’m Full-Blown Color”
What Are the Benefits of Recovery? (An Incomplete List)
I am not an expert on recovery. I am, however, an expert in avoiding recovery. Recovery isn’t something I actively chose to gave up, but little by little, the choices I made defaulted against it. Of course, you might also argue that recovery isn’t so black and white. But if I compare my life sixContinue reading “What Are the Benefits of Recovery? (An Incomplete List)”
Why Does It Take Me A Month to Make a New Post?
Where have I been? I couldn’t really tell you. 50% work. 25% spending time with the friend who made the above inspiration board. 25% ignoring responsibilities and wringing my hands in guilt. That’s my best guess. They say you can’t lose recovery. I re-read a post of my own that talks about this. Yet two weeksContinue reading “Why Does It Take Me A Month to Make a New Post?”
The Unplug Initiative 