Tag Archives: mental-health

On Idleness and Nothingness

Posted on by
Reply

I am seldom idle with nothing to do even though I feel as if I’m languishing my life away. All our technology today does not allow me a moment of nothingness. But ask me what I have accomplish in any given moment. I cannot tell you. I feel as if my attention has been kidnapped. I am held captive, pushing buttons on the phone, tapping the keyboard search of news, stories, blah, blah, blah. All the things that matters squat. I know that. Yet it is hard to stop.

It has been especially bad this past year. Having lost my mother, it is natural that I am interested in other people’s similar situations. Pretty soon there’s alot of posts in my feed from people losing their mothers. Grieving and suffering, I am naturally drawn to stories and articles on that and how people overcome their issues. So by now I have been saturated with so many stories of loss and suffering. I didn’t know there was so many weird and awful diseases, congenital defects, accidents. How is it possible to live? It is no wonder I am not a happy camper.

I remember a time when I did not have a computer or an iPhone. Now I am an owner of an iMac, iPhone, iPad and a macbook. How many macs do I really need? Back in the days, I did no googling in search of things of no importance. I ate my breakfast leisurely, listening to CBC radio. CBC was news worthy and had interesting and educational programs. The library held many books to answer my questions on gardening, cooking, sewing, the arts. It was adequate. My brain was not flooded and short circuited by a million and one trivialities like it is today.

Recovering my brain and life is what I hope for this coming year. I hear that improvements in our lives do not happen on their own. Drat! It means I have to do the work. So where to start? What pops up in my mind is mindfulness, going back to morning idleness and nothingness. It is the thing that have saved me over and over again. It should be easy to do nothing again, right?

What Bugs Me

Posted on by
Reply

So Christmas is over. There’s so much pressure to be happy, joyous and celebratory. I’m none of those and I feel guilty that I am not. There’s no law and there’s nobody wagging their finger at me. Perhaps that’s what bugs me the most, my self criticism. It is only right that we put on a happy face and wish each other Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. There’s no need to Bah, Humbug! It would be a sad world if everyone feel like me. Yet that’s how I feel. The thing is perhaps pretend and not to let it show. There is no gain in spoiling it for others.

I’m wallowing in my own misery. There’s no reason to not to feel and acknowledge what is inside of me. I like to think of it as self-care. No one else can truly know how I feel. I’m having a difficult time moving forward but I am putting one foot in front of the other every day. I am making progress though ever so slow. We’ve started the second year without my mother. Who knows how or how long a death affects a person. But it has changed me and my world. How, I am unable to articulate at this time. Perhaps it’s something to write about in January.

What bugs me is that I’m stuck in this space and time, wallowing. I used to look forward to the morning at bedtime. I couldn’t wait to start the day. Now, though I’m not dreading the day or anything, I like to lull in bed, wrapped in the warmth of the comforter and the darkness of the morning even though I am awake. When I do get up, I am surprised but not dismayed that it’s so late. I am bugged but I guess not bugged enough. I feel weighed down by some unknown force. Tomorrow is another day and next week it will be a new year. Hope on the horizon.

Working in Stuck

Posted on by
Reply
Photo by DS stories on Pexels.com

It’s occurred to me to keep a diary of this period of being stuck in stuck. Perhaps it will help me inch my way out of it. So far I’m not having much luck. I’m still wallowing round and round, going nowhere. But at least I’ve tapped out a couple of sentences here. Oh, yes, I did ordered some cheques from the bank this morning. I was surprised that the cheques and delivery are free. Isn’t that wonderful?

The thing that I haven’t failed is taking my father out for coffee every afternoon. How can I not do that, eh? He is 94 and has never, ever been alone till my mother passed away last October. It’s a miracle of some sort that we’ve muddled through a year without her. Today I realized I’m happy that she is free of all her physical pain and earthly cares. It lightens the load that I have felt for many years. I feel a peace of some kind. Maybe now I can start to sort and weed the clutter in my head and elsewhere.

Some people are surprised that I can take my father out every day. It is really not a big deal. I am happy that I am able to give him a couple of hours a day. I do my other stuff before and after. I look at it as my afternoon coffee break. I get to spend some time with him and see how he is managing. It settles my mind and I can sleep at night. I also get to know him a little better. He is like his generation of Chinese immigrant fathers.They work and work, leaving the nurturing to the mothers. I’m not complaining or criticising. It’s just what it was.

I’m feeling a little less stuck. Sometimes it helps to talk on my keyboard. Some things get loose and unstuck. Supper is almost ready. Time to eat. It’s goat tonight.

Stuck in Stuck

Posted on by
Reply
Photo by Karol Wru00f3blewski on Pexels.com

I hate to admit it but I’m stuck in stuck, going onwheres. I’m not making progress in any direction. Rather than being stuck in disappointment and clutter, I take a deep breath, accept myself as I am and try to deal with one thing at a time. It’s Saturday morning and the sun is shining through my sunroom. I’m having another cup of tea. No surprise, eh? I’ve given up on losing weight. I love cream and sugar in my tea and coffee. I love my little snacks now and again.

November is not a good month to push myself toward anything. Rather it is the time to give in to my natural inclinations. It’s a losing battle to fight against myself when the sun is late in rising and early in setting. It’s only 10 am and already I am sleepy. My whole body is heavy with fatigue. I would be wiser to do like bears in this season and just lumber along as best as I can. It does me no good to berate myself and feel guilty.

Having said all that, I don’t advocate on giving up and sleeping till spring. I still have to do like Regina Brett says, No matter how I feel, I get up, dress up and show up. That’s the least I can do and maybe that is the best I can do on a given day. If I can do more, all the better. So what have I done this morning so far besides getting up, dressing and showing up?

  1. Started writing this post.
  2. Paid my bills. Some were late. Thankfully they were not ones with high late interest rates. My memory is slipping this past year. It happens to the best of us.

That’s all I can manage now. I need another cuppa before I can tackle making lunch. I think it’s best to do small rather than big.

BAD HABITS DIE HARD

Posted on by
Reply

November 1, a new month, a new day. Where am I? I am still lost in the midst of my chaos and clutter. I haven’t given up. I worked myself out of acedia in the month of October. Now that I am no longer wallowing in apathy, I am interested and energized in working my way into some kind of order and clarity. It is not easy as you might have guessed. I have vacuumed the kitchen, dining room and the sunroom. I did it in spurts of starts and stops.

I am in the stop phase, now nursing a cup of decaf. It’s my usual fall-back-on habit so it takes me a long time to do a chore. Bad habits die hard and very slowly. After years and years of this, it is very, very hard to correct. I have to be patient and kind with myself. I have made a start. I have acknowledged my wayward ways. I am dedicating November to work on sorting my paper clutter. This does not mean giving up my other goals of losing weight and piecing my log cabin squares together into a quilt.

My weight loss is nil to minimum. I could lose 1/2 pound one day and gain a pound the next. It is a bit discouraging. I am focusing on staying fit and getting stronger and more flexible. I am focusing on increasing my aerobic workout and maintaining the strength training. I can now do 50 skips at one time jumping rope and run up and down the stairs at the gym 5 times. It’s easier each week. I can aim for 60 skips and 6 times on the stairs on Monday.

I’m piecing 4 quilt squares into a block. I will have 25 blocks in the end. I’m almost there, just 2 blocks left to go. However, I shall stop and have a bit of a rest from everything. My head is buzzing, alerting me that I am over stimulated. I have to drop everything right now.

Lost

Posted on by
8

A sunny mid October morning. I’m sipping my second cup of tea. I am tired from yesterday and the day before. Age is catching up with me. Lunches, art galleries, quilt shows and coffee with my father are adding up. I shouldn’t complain and am not. Getting out in the world and connecting with others is always a good thing. It feels like I’ve been in a vacuum this past year. I’m slowly making my way out into the world again.

It feels a bit overwhelming sometimes, waking up to the world we have today. But I am here, caught up in the constant traffic along with the rest of humanity. It is a bit disorientating. I am reminded of the time I was in Hong Kong. It was on a Friday afternoon when people got off work early. I was standing on the sidewalk with people streaming past me. The sidewalk was like a moving escalator. I was, of course, lost, a foreigner among her own people.

I’m feeling less lost and not getting lost as often. I check and plan where I am going. Now there is a Googles Maps app. I can get directions livestream right to my ears. Now there’s not much getting lost but I still get stuck frequently, starting and stopping. Life is never perfect. Whatever would I do if it was?

Feeling stuck, I do a walk through the house this morning, putting away and throwing out things. I do a walk out the door and through the garden and the greenhouse, snipping and pulling. I hooked the hose to the water catchment and turned on the water onto the greenhouse beds. It could be the last watering. Then it’s time to stop and make lunch. Another day and no dollar.

A Long time Coming

Posted on by
13

Day 16 of the Ultimate Blog has started. Yesterday I posted a vision board to help me attain my goal of losing 17 pounds. It was composed of photos of my ideal self. It helps to keep it fresh in my mind’s eye. Even though I was feeling sluggish and lazy, wanting to be a hibernating bear, I didn’t cave in. It’s hard to start the morning with a cup of black tea so I didn’t. There’s something so delicious about that first cup of sweet and creamy Orange Pekoe. It’s a wonderful start to my morning. Just so you would know, I used just a tad of honey and 3 teaspoons of evaporated milk.

It was hard not to sink into my love seat after breakfast. I forced myself to run up and down the basement stairs. Noticing how dusty the stairs were, I vacuumed them. It wasn’t hard but the getting to it part was. I wondered if our brains have been altered by all our gizmos. I can’t really say I love scrolling but find myself doing it too often and for too long, wasting too much time and making myself feel not good. The scrolling and pushing of buttons make me feel impatient and frustrated. If I can’t get results right away, I’m pissed.

It’s silly I know but I want to lose my 17 pounds right away, at one try. That was in my mindset yesterday at the gym. I was sorely disappointed with the scale. I did not drop even one ounce. I am more reasonable today. I know it will take awhile to achieve my goal. I will focus on slow and steady progress. I will try to regain pleasure in doing hands on work. Some things just can’t be done by pushing a button or twitching your nose. Some things require hard work. There’s no getting away from that. It’s what I am in the middle of now – cleaning and decluttering my sunroom. It’s taken me a year to get to it. That’s a bit long, isn’t it? But I am here.

What do I Know for Sure

Posted on by
Reply

Day 7 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I’m scratching my head, not knowing how to start the day or write a post. What I know for sure is if I don’t make a move, nothing will happen. It is also very true simple as it sounds, it is not all that easy to make a move. Sometimes I feel/am immobilized, stuck to the chair, as if one wrong move could cost me and not in a good way. What I also know for sure is life is mostly filled with tedium. I’ve often wished there was a camp for adults like they have for children. I wouldn’t mind being taken care of totally.

I’m sure that you would like to slap me. I should do that myself to snap me out of this thinking. What I know for sure is in reality, I wouldn’t like to be totally dependent with no will. So, I’ve slowly and painfully making efforts. I’ve gone up and down the stairs a few time, taking needed stuff down and bringing needed things up. I’m killing two birds with one stone. I’ve boiled water for a second cup of tea, doing toe raises while waiting for the water to boil. I’ve thrown out the dill in the fridge. It was causing someone to complain about its taste getting into everything.

I’ve cooked the cassava that was hanging out forgotten for weeks in the fridge. It was a new thing introduced to me by our friends on coffee row. It was bought in excitement and quickly forgotten till now. The root is quite hard to cut but easily peeled. It boiled easily within 30 minutes. The aroma was mild and pleasant. It tasted delicious. A word of caution- cassava is poisonous eaten raw. Makes one think twice, doesn’t it?

I’m so glad that I made an effort to move. Thank you to Oprah for the phrase, what I know for sure. Do you know she’s written a book by that name? Having read just the first few pages, I am not in love with it though I am an Oprah fan. She sounded too privileged talking of “hanging out with a group of girlfriends in Mauri; I’ve just come back from India and wanted to have a spa retreat at my house to celebrate turning 58. I suppose there’s nothing wrong with that. She’s earned it. Still, it didn’t sound right to me. What I know for sure is that I am not quite as big a fan of Oprah as I used to be. I am sure it is not breaking her heart.

My list of Hard to Dos

Posted on by
Reply
Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels.com

Life is hard. It doesn’t seem fair that it is so. There’s nothing I can do to change all that. The only thing I can change is myself and my attitudes. It is easy to make resolutions but not so to fulfill them. It is hard to get out of the ruts and harder still to stay out. I gravitate towards easy and the couch with a snack. But at least I’ve found my way to the keyboard. It’s a beginning of a journey towards doing the hard stuff.

Sometimes I feel as if I’m buried under an avalanche of hard to do stuff. When I think about it, I don’t understand why they are so hard. Why is the garbage hard to take out? Why is picking up something off the floor hard to do? All that is required is movement but I am often frozen, immobilized, my synapses not snapping and my limbs not moving. That is the why I come to the keyboard. I’m tapping for guidance. I’m tapping for motivation. I’m tapping for energy.

Kitchen and bathroom floors are more of the hard to do stuff. I’ve washed both this morning. Once I got started it didn’t feel so difficult and I wonder why I felt that it was so hard. By now I know not to vow to do them more often. I’ve vowed often enough and it has never happened. I have accepted some things will always feel distasteful and hard to do. That’s just how it is.

It is the end of the day. I’m sipping my decaf, waiting for supper, trying to bring this post to an end. My days are always busy. I am never bored. There’s always things to do – the garden and greenhouse to water, tomatoes to pick, cucumbers to harvest, seedlings to transplant. I’m hoping for a second crop of kohlrabi. These things are not hard to do. They come naturally without thought. But I am tired. My body and head need a rest.

The Ultimate Blog Challenge Finale

Posted on by
5
Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels.com

For this last day of the Ultimate Blog Challenge, I have clear skies, sunshine and clean air. I have to love that. I’m bringing myself to the keyboard early to bring a closing post to the month/challenge. Intentions and goal setting do not get the job done. They help but I need to physically set my butt down in front of the keyboard and make my fingers work for the words and sentences. As I’ve said many times, I write for the love of it. Sometimes the love is not there. Then I have to do the hard work. Ironically when I am not loving but sweating it, the results are most satisfying.

In the past, I had the the do or die mentally. I MUST write a post every day for the challenge. I would stay up late. After being revved up, I would find it hard to fall asleep. I don’t do that anymore. Now I weigh my priorities. No more do or die. I give myself breaks. Writing and this challenge are still very important to me. They still give me much pleasure and a routine. I am engaging with others in the challenge. I am engaging with myself. Both writing and engaging helps my brain heallth. They help keep me in and with the world.

I hope I haven’t sounded too maudlin and depressing. I am a serious and melancholic person by nature. I do sigh alot. Sighing does make me feel better physically. I think it’s because I draw in more air/oxygen. I do try to write in a hopeful voice because I am a hopeful positive person. I am always in pursuit of being better, finding solutions. I put it all on the page. It’s my way of working things out. I’m a self-help junkie.

Many thanks for Paul Taubman for hosting and guiding us on this event. Thanks to all the participants and readers. You all add to the pleasure. You are much appreciated.