The Art of Living with Depression
23 Dec 2012 3 Comments
in 12 Days of Christmas, Art Month, Fun Tags: christmas, free, freebies, gifts, links, printable
Free stuff is good for your mental health.
I haven’t bought gift tags for years because the internet is such a great source for printable goodies. Here’s some links to downloadable tags if you’re wrapping presents last-minute like me!
Want to avoid the tape or ribbon all together? Use sticker paper from a stationery store to feed right through your printer.
My Owl Barn is such an amazing selection of hooty goodness. They directed me to these cuties from Wee Gallery: Download them here.
14 Nov 2012 15 Comments
in Symptoms and Side-Effects Tags: appetite, concentration, coping, depression, depression cake, fear, friendship, growth, guilt and shame, hope, links, mindyourmind.ca, support, the life of erin, worry
I’m in a bad spot. I’m realizing that I have to start reaching out again for more help or else I’m going to be in big trouble. I’ve pulled away for a few weeks, even stopping writing here, trying to keep my pain from the spotlight.
As you know, I went out on a limb for a few weeks there, trying to let people in on how I’m doing and being open about the fact that I’m feeling super depressed. I blogged about it, I told friends, and stayed honest with my therapist. After a bit of doing that, however, I realized that no one can magically help me feel better. None of my friends are wizards or witches, unfortunately, and no, I don’t know any fairy godmothers. I started to adopt the attitude that no one can help me because they can’t undo what’s been done to me in my life. No one can turn my feelings off like a faucet. So instead of telling my friends that I need them to come over and bring all the towels that they own, I’ve almost drowned in my pain all by myself.
15 Sep 2012 7 Comments
in Fun, Reviews Tags: articles, asking for help, crisis, emergency, links, mindyourmind.ca, positive thinking, quotes, suicide
I’ve had all of these tabs open for over a week, planning on posting about each one of them and today I’ve realized that this is ridiculous. It’s time for one big sharing post!
Let’s start with the graphic I paired with this post. It’s been floating around Tumblr and I can’t find a source, unfortunately, but it hits the nail on the head with incredible precision. When I’m feeling depressed, it makes me feel a thousand times worse when someone tells me to cheer up because someone in the world is suffering more than I am. Not only does that message make me feel guilty for feeling bad but then I become overwhelmed with all the pain in the world and how helpless we all can feel. Next time you feel guilty for being depressed, remember this picture! Think about how silly it would be to tell a kid who’s happy about a lollipop to stop smiling because someone in the world owns a whole candy factory. It’s like one of my favourite Mark Twain quotes:
“Nothing that grieves us can be called little: by the eternal laws of proportion a child’s loss of a doll and a king’s loss of a crown are events of the same size.”
Going Public With Depression by Kat Kinsman on CNN Living reminds me of the biggest reason I’m coping with my mental illnesses today: I spoke up after being silent for so long. In volunteering and later working for mindyourmind I started to share my story to help other people and doing so has kept me afloat. Kinsman’s article covers her experience with depression and provides links to many other authors and websites who inspired her to reach out and speak up.
Speaking of mindyourmind, I am super excited about their updated Help pages. As always, they provide useful tips and links for helping oneself and for helping a friend, but now they go one step further to explain everything you might need to know when first reaching out. I helped a lot with the initial redesign of the Help pages, especially the “waiting safely” part, in the section called I Need Help NOW. With my experience of attempting suicide several times, I am familiar with that horrible stage of waiting for help to arrive in an emergency. Most websites don’t go through the details of reaching out for help, waiting for help, and taking care of oneself in a crisis, but mindyourmind takes that crucial step.
What has inspired and motivated you this week?
16 Jun 2012 8 Comments
in Blog Maintenance Tags: art, blog, celebration, change, fun, happiness, hope, life direction, links, quotes, risk, the life of erin
Happy Birthday to us!! To Daisiesandbruises.com. Woo! One year old.
And as promised, my blog layout is updated with many new features including an updated photo, a sidebar that’s much more fun, and a drop down menu at the top of the page. I’m actually going to be tinkering with things for a bit still, so it’s not written in stone, but that’s the internet for you. Some of the new features:
My Art, hosting pages on my visual art and my poetry.
Inspirations, featuring a list of books and a page of quotes that will be updated frequently.
In the past year I was invited to speak at a few events after readers came across my blog, so there’s now a Hire Me page to answer some of the questions surrounding that stuff. On the same page, if you scroll down, you’ll find testimonials from my awesome readers, a list I visit frequently since behind the scenes I get cold feet and worry that my words have no impact. You have convinced me of my worth.
In the next week or so I will be adding some advertising banners for you to put on your own site if you feel inclined, as well as that “ask me” box that I’ve mentioned wanting to do before. I want readers to be able to ask me questions anonymously to feel safe and secure and heard all at once.
And we now have a Facebook page! Follow along there to be notified of posts, snag some freebies and further inspiration.
So, here’s to sharing more of myself with you, risking stalkers and spammers and the like. If I can’t always share myself face-to-face in this world, the least I can do is have a presence online. Baby steps.
Anyway, I’m super excited to share this with you. Can you tell?! You know I’m not usually this happy. I only have you to thank!!
Cheers to entering the second year of daisiesandbruses.com. We’re in this together.
11 Apr 2012 4 Comments
in Fun Tags: art, creativity, frank warren, gaslighting, life direction, links, postsecret, psychology today, self-sabotage, TED, video
So, I’m still feeling sick as hell. Great! Anyway, I haven’t been up to any genius writing these past few days but I have found some great mental health stuff online that’s informative and inspiring. Worth every…click!
First of all, my new awesome friend Claire wrote about Happy Lists after reading my Happy List post from February. Her blog is brand new and I am in love already!
Next, Psychology Today has a great blog post about Self-Sabotage, complete with a list that branches out into several related articles as sub-categories:
1: Dodging Emotions: The Help That Harms
2: Procrastination: Oops, Where Did the Day Go?
3: Extreme Modesty: The Case of the Disappearing Self
Number three reminds me of what I believe to be the original Gaslighting article, A Message to Women from a Man: You Are Not Crazy. If you’re only going to click on one link from this post, the latter is the best. I feel like my entire life is explained by it.
Moving on, TED (my new favourite site) has a brand new video of Frank Warren of PostSecret. It’s phenomenal. Check it out:
Speaking of TED, this is my most favourite talk on there, one that I make sure to rewatch every few weeks. It’s Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love on Nuturing Creativity. It’s a great example of how to weaken your negative self-talk and keep your channels of creativity flowing and open.
*okay, that video isn’t working for some people, so click this link to watch it instead. :)
(If you know me in “real life” I’ve probably talked to you about this. Now you have the link so you have no excuse for not watching it! I’ll be checking. Yeah, you!)
I just learned about assistance dogs for people with seizures. Apparently we emit an odour right before having a seizure and certain dogs can smell it. Once trained, a seizure dog can save lives. Read about this awesome kid who wrote a book to raise money to get a seizure dog. HONESTLY, GREATEST THING EVER.
Lastly, read about this Memorial for Mental Health. The header photo alone just makes me feel peaceful and wonderful:
Be well!! ♥♥♥
01 Jan 2012 1 Comment
in Fun Tags: fun, links, the life of erin, twelve days of christmas
Thankfully, the internet is full of fascinating things to help celebrate the new year, and as part of this special week I give you some great links to start 2012 off right.
Let’s warm up with Cute Overload‘s Top Ten Cutest Photos of 2011! A goose with custom sandals. You’ve been warned.
Writing Your Own Personal 2012 Manifesto, with a printable pdf starter here.
Gretchen Rubin of The Happiness Project posted a great blog on questions to ask yourself while making resolutions.
Laura of Bugs and Fishes talks about the success of her 2011 resolution to get rid of one possession every day. I might try to copy her for 2012!
I LOVE My Owl Barn and once again this year they have a free, printable, and customizable art owl calendar for 2012. I did one for 2011 and enjoyed it for the entire year. I am so glad it’s up for 2012!!
If you’d rather support an Etsy artist for your calendar, Print and Pattern posted awesome 2012 calendar designs found on Etsy.
Milo (shown above) wants to make sure you all follow his twitter since Digby is stealing the limelight so much these days. I helped Milo set it up but it’s all him now! MiloWonderPug
And lastly, if you’ve ever wanted to get to know me better OR find my stash of insane internet inspired goodness, here’s my Pinterest! It’s like tumblr but better because you can categorize your stuff by boards and follow only what interests you most. Let me know if you want an invite or if you already have one yourself – I’d love to check it out!
“Celebrate New Year’s when you want to, and as often as you choose. They’re your resolutions, not ours.”
~ Seth Godin
“Before you embark on any path ask the question, does this path have a heart? If the answer is no, you will know it and then you must choose another path.”
~ Carlos Castaneda
14 Nov 2011 2 Comments
in Fun Tags: links, music, quotes
Today is a dark and rainy Monday and I’m tossing around my apartment trying to figure out my life. The worse I feel the more I doubt my words and I keep starting letters, starting journal entries, starting posts and then fear creeps out of my stomach and starts putting me down until I can’t move.
The only thing I can do to keep me from being swallowed by my fear is to retreat into inspiration. I surround myself in what I love or what comforts me. Do you want in on these things? I LOVE it when bloggers share their inspirations but I haven’t done it here yet. It seems only fitting, though, since during these fear paralysis times I am thinking of YOU and wanting to share my life still. Here’s a sampling of my self-comfort this week.
Emotional Bagcheck is a site where you can vent or listen and make a song recommendation. Check out the “carry it” option to get the feel of it. AWESOME idea.
“Adventures in Depression” from Hyperbole and a Half. Allie is one of my biggest online heroines and I want to be her best friend forever…along with the thousands of people who comment on her hilarious posts. After this one I recommend reading this post and this one (especially if you’re a dog lover). I’m also building a post on her latest comic to use it as a teaching tool about depression. Coming soon!
This is the Thing by Fink. I like the lyrics, “And the things that keep us apart/Keep me alive/And the things that keep me alive/Keep me alone.” The lyrics are sad but the music is comforting. Comment with your email address if you want me to send you the song!
It Will Get Better banner by sweet sweet life on Flickr. I’ve always been a fan of positive banners like this and I’m finally making my own! I’ll show you when it’s done.
I am in love with the art by Sadly Harmless on Etsy. Knitting narwhals and giraffes with telescopes.
Wallpaper – not for your desktop but your home – is making a comeback. If only it wasn’t so expensive getting shit mailed to Canada. Check out Muffin and Mani.
My quote collection is beyond huge. I shared one with a new friend of mine the other day and she said it reminded her of me:
“Shuttered like a fan no-one suspects your shoulder blades of wings.”
- Jeanette Winterson, Written on the Body
09 Aug 2011 6 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: fail, links
If you don’t leave a footprint, do you exist? If you came and went and no one saw you, does it even matter that you were there?
In high school, either no one called home when I skipped class or else my parents didn’t care if I had. Both my family and my school knew about my mental health problems, so maybe they were trying to cut me a break. My marks were very good so no one had anything to complain about, I suppose. As a result I felt like no one noticed whether I was there or not. I didn’t make the slightest difference. Is it any wonder I didn’t go to university or college?
Skipping a blog post is like skipping anything else. You feel guilty the first time and then after that who cares. If you don’t build it, they won’t come. The readers, I mean. Or if they do come and find no new post, there are only sixty gazillion other sites out there for them to read.
Ugh, I have to kick this apathy because it’s really doing me in, not to mention messing up this blog. I don’t want to disappoint my readers, so some days I might be quiet to avoid doing that. I also don’t want to freak people out. Already my parents are reading between the lines of my blog to somehow catch me before I fall and it’s kind of weird. To my parents and anyone else concerned: I actually fell a long time ago and since then I’ve been getting back up. You can trust me. :)
On bad days especially I update my tumblr with images that inspire me. I suggest that you follow me there if you need more daisies when my posts here have been mainly about bruises. You can check out every single post at a glance here, but it might be a tad overwhelming.
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