George Stroumboulopoulos Interview
12 Mar 2012 4 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: George Stroumboulopoulos, mindyourmind.ca, video
*I have delayed posting this due to the trolls that came out from under their bridges to spam my blog when I last posted about George Stroumboulopoulos. I am leaving comments open on this post for now, and I beg everyone to please ignore the trolls who try to bash the CBC everywhere they can.*
Enjoy the great interview via mindyourmind.ca and George sharing his valuable time with us! Watch the entire thing – it’s long but VERY worthwhile.
Some poignant quotes from George:
“This is it. This has to be good enough for me and part of the way to do that is to just focus on the now.”
“I think the surfers have figured out life. Surfers work really hard to get to a flat spot and then they wait and they wait and they wait and when a wave comes they try to catch it. I’ve never seen a surfer ever try to control a wave. All they try to do is ride through a wave…their own way through. And I think that’s the secret to life. Stop trying to control everything, stop trying to figure things out, there’s nothing to figure out. There just IS. So be a good friend, be a good daughter, be a good husband, be a good son, be a good whatever. If you’re going to leave a mark make it a positive one, and be there for others, that’s kinda it.”
“I’m not an optimistic person in general but I choose to live optimistically regardless because it’s better than the alternative.”
“This is it, health and justice for everybody.”
“You’re never alone, but you’re on your own. You’re never alone, but you’re on your own.”
“I guess success is being able to do tomorrow what you did today because you love it, right?”
My Art and Writing Published!
28 Jan 2012 8 Comments
in The Big Picture, Uncategorized Tags: art, goals, mindyourmind.ca, the life of erin, writing
Picture an eighteen-year-old me, hiding in the basement of my family’s house. I have magazine clippings surrounding me and a blank piece of black paper on the floor in front of me. I feel overwhelmed, misunderstood, passionate, and angry. I feel smothered and silenced to the point of eruption. I am terrified.
I don’t know what the catalyst was but that day I grew braver in my art. I found an image of a man holding a sign saying, “What am I hiding?” in a magazine. It grabbed my attention and soon I uncovered a blonde girl whose body fit with his sign after I cropped it out. I glued without thinking, letting my heart guide me.
My collage needed something more, but before abandoning it for more materials I turned my piece upside-down on the carpet so no one in my family would see it. Then I flew upstairs, typed out a few phrases that came to mind and printed them out in different fonts. I grabbed a bottle of red acrylic paint and a paintbrush and ran back downstairs.
As the red paint dried I felt that the girl wasn’t as silenced as I felt. I snuck into my dad’s workshop and grabbed his duct tape. A final X over her mouth did the trick. Lastly I added my fingerprints on either side of the girl’s body.
I didn’t even look at my collage for years after doing it. I just added it to my folder of collages and continued creating for no one but myself.
It wasn’t until working with mindyourmind that I showed my art to anyone. They liked my work and have some of it on their website (). I didn’t reveal this piece, however, until the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health contacted mindyourmind in seach of stories from youth growing up in Canada’s mental health system.
I forget which came first, sharing my story with CAMH or sharing my artwork, but before I knew it, Hema Zbogar, the editor of CAMH’s journal, CrossCurrents, was telling me that my art had been chosen for the cover of the upcoming issue on teens transitioning to adulthood. She worked with me on my article as well. For the first time in my life I worked with an editor! It was really awesome. And it was also my first time getting paid for my art and writing, which is a huge milestone for me.
Getting paid was more significant to me than just making money. It was indication that my story is valuable to the world. I could have spent that money on many things but I choose to spend it on something that would give me joy, the complete opposite of my pain. With that money I bought my puppy, Digby.
It’s really hard for me to give myself credit or feel proud of myself, but I’m trying hard to acknowledge this success. It is a small achievement in the grand scheme of things but it’s big in my little life. Most days I feel like I have no clue where I’m headed in life but I can look at the cover of the CrossCurrents latest issue and feel like I’m making a difference. That’s the direction that I want to go.
Invited to Share My Story
16 Sep 2011 15 Comments
in Local Events Tags: life direction, local events, london, mindyourmind.ca, speaking, the life of erin, treatment
Yesterday was a day of firsts! I spoke at the London Distress Centre‘s Annual General Meeting, where I told “my story,” which I have not done before. I put “my story” in quotation marks because it was not even quarter of my story, really, but it’s impossible to accurately represent my life in fifteen minutes to a room full of strangers. I also really promoted my blog for the first time in a public setting, which is really exciting.
I now feel obligated to say that if this is your first time reading my blog, you should probably read some of the earlier posts instead of this one because I’m uncharacteristically excited here. Plus you spent the evening with me so you’d just be reading about something you already witnessed. That said, you can read about it here from my point of view so do whatever you want. :P
In my speech I talked about one of my suicide attempts and I talked about my close friend’s suicide. I talked about how I’ve always felt like my contribution to the world was like a big bucket of black paint, and that any attempt to paint a brush stroke of myself on the world would be poison. I said that by sharing my story others have reflected it back to me, showing me all the beautiful colours I am capable of making. I shared some of my art that I’m planning on making a part of this blog soon.
More
The Need to be Liked
28 Aug 2011 4 Comments
in Book Reviews Tags: books, CBT, core beliefs, mindyourmind.ca, negative thinking patterns, pugs
Excuse time: I’m pug-sitting for a few days while my parents’ are out of town. As you can see, it is pure bliss to hang out with Milo so much. Now follow my lead:
Look deeply into those pug eyes. Deeper, deeper. Okay, now tell me something intelligent!
IT CAN’T BE DONE. Never underestimate the power of puggular gazing. Therefore, my posts have been sporadic this week.
Anyway, I have been getting some things done despite the puggular gazing. Christine at mindyourmind asked me to review a book called by Dr. Roger Covin and reading it is giving me a crash course on cognitive-behavioural therapy as well as teaching me some interesting information on why we feel the need to be liked in the first place.
Of course, Milo keeps interrupting me to tell me that the need to be liked is never a concern if you have a pug with you at all times. True enough. That said, unfortunately we can’t have pugs with us 24/7 so read on to learn more about the book that helps to fill in those gaps.
More
Therapy: School of Life
11 Aug 2011 3 Comments
in Therapy Tags: depression, life direction, mindyourmind.ca, school, therapy
My last post mentioned one reason I didn’t go to university or college: the fact that I felt invisible. There are actually many reasons I never went, but another reason that I am going to share with you now is that I couldn’t leave my therapist. When all my peers went away to school I stayed here because the rapport I had with my therapist was essential in keeping me afloat. I could have found a new therapist in the city I went to school in but I was so fragile that doing so was out of the question.
So I stayed in London and while there is a university here, it had no appeal for me. I decided to wait until I felt better emotionally and by the time that happened all of my ambition was gone. People tell me all the time that I should go back to school and they don’t realize that school is a really sensitive topic for me. So many things factor in to my decision not to go yet, one of which is maintaining proximity to my therapist.
When we hear about depression or other mental illnesses, we hear about their debilitating symptoms, but not about how debilitating treatment can be. While I acknowledge how fortunate I am to be receiving treatment at all, treatment is hard work.
More
The Brave New World of Medication
21 Jul 2011 1 Comment
in Medication, The Mental Health System Tags: medication, mindyourmind.ca, psychiatry
I’m not going to lie: I’m swamped in getting ready for my craft show this weekend and have not written a new post. While I hope to be a Speedy Gonzales-esque writer one of these days and write ten posts ahead of schedule, it hasn’t happened yet. Don’t be disappointed, however! Tonight you get to step into the shoes of a MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL. WOOO!!! No university degree required.
mindyourmindpro.ca aims at helping health care professionals help youth. They have a kick-ass blog that I’m sampling from here, a post I wrote in February on educating youth on medication. It was amazing to be able to talk to professionals in an arena where they would be open to my opinions on health care. While the post is aimed at professionals, it has a lot of good advice for people new to antidepressants. I wish I could have read such an article when I first went on medication. Click the “more” arrow below to read the article.
Me & My Twin, Bif Naked
18 Jul 2011 2 Comments
in Fun Tags: bif naked, concert, mindyourmind.ca
About once a week I am told by a stranger that I look like Bif Naked. Ever since I got my baby bangs, it’s been a constant observation by people wherever I go. Especially in the summer, when my tattoos are showing, I get told that even more. My sister is often mistaken for being my twin so she too is told she looks like Bif.
So, naturally when Bif Naked came to London a few weeks ago, my friend Maranda and I had to see her. My sister bought tickets too and I was psyched to take a picture of the three of us look-a-likes together but last minute it turned out that my sister couldn’t go.
Anyway, Maranda and I stood in line outside of Call the Office and as soon as the doors opened we rushed to the stage to make sure we’d have a good view for the show. Call the Office is a small club and we ended up being right in the front by the time Bif came out. She was like two meters away from me!
More
Fight or Flight
13 Jul 2011 9 Comments
in Book Reviews, Symptoms and Side-Effects Tags: mindyourmind.ca, PTSD, stress
Someone today thought they were educating me about Cortisol, the stress hormone, and it took all of my energy not to burst out with facts about zebras and pooping.
Wait, what?
Once again, I need to refer back to a post I wrote originally for mindyourmind.ca. It’s only fair that I let you in on the science behind why we need to poop when we’re nervous. You know you’re curious!
This whole stress hormone thing has been a huge issue for me in the past few years with my headaches and stomach problems. In my frustration over not being able to cure my ailments, I eventually went to the library looking for answers. There I found a book called Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers by Robert M. Sapolsky. It had a ton of information on the fight or flight response, which up until then I’d only heard about in science class.
More
