Category Archives: Uncategorised

Karma – Brandyn Burnette from Minhal Baig on Vimeo.

This short film includes a brief scene from something horrifying that happened in the U.S. recently. I don’t normally like to give spoilers for the stuff I share here, but I think this warning is vague enough to brush away if you don’t mind violent scenes while also specific enough to pay attention to if you are triggered by such things.

The message of this film was fantastic, though. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Here is this week’s list of paintings, poems, essays, and other tidbits from my favourite corners of the web.

For Bradie. I shared a different Klara Bowman painting next week, and I’ll share another with you all next week. Look at all three of them before you google her, though.

Here Are the Reasons Why I Think Prostitution Should Be Legalized via wendygarfinkle. I couldn’t agree with this more.

A Conversation with a Woman Who Walks via LindaKSienkwicz. While I’m a big fan of both walking and reading, I never would have thought to combine them. Have any of my followers ever tried this?

Duck, Death, and the Tulip via brainpicker. This is the best book review I’ve read in my entire life.

A Poem to Get Rid of Fear. Watch this even if you’re not generally a fan of poetry. I couldn’t get the video to embed in this post, but the imagery and message in it were truly fantastic.

Hate Trumps Love via dorothysnarker. What a difficult thing to write.

From Twenty-First Century Victorians:

But the Victorian ethos is not dead, not by a long shot.

It lives on, manifesting itself in our contemporary upper middle class’s behavior. While some aspects have gone the way of the waistcoat, the belief that the bourgeoisie holds a place of moral superiority over the other classes persists.

What have you been reading?

You don’t have to have anxiety to find this video useful.

I like it because the host gives her audience many opportunities to customize the breathing exercises for our own bodies. It was really nice to make those little changes as I followed along.

This is something I’ve been using regularly this autumn. It’s incredibly relaxing.

Glitch is an Australian sci-fi show about a small-town cop named James Hayes who is trying to figure out why six people have risen from the dead in the local cemetery. None of the dead remembers their previous identities, and all of them have come back in perfect health.

I’ve seen three of the six episodes of this show so far, and I absolutely love it. If you haven’t checked it out yet, here are five spoiler-free reasons why you should be watching Glitch as well:

It’s Brutally Honest About the Past

The people who came back from the dead didn’t all pass away in the same year or even in the same era. Some of them were gone for a long time before they suddenly came back, and the writers on the show never ignore that when they show these characters adjusting to life in 2016.

I can’t go into any further detail about this aspect of the plot without giving away spoilers about the episodes I’ve seen so far, but I can say that I absolutely loved how the huge cultural differences between the past and the present were handled when they came up.

The Dead Aren’t Scary

No, they’re not zombies, ghosts, or vampires. They’re human beings. Just like us, they eat, sleep, feel emotions, and breathe.  The fact that they can’t remember who they are or why they died is a huge mystery, but it’s only part of who they are as individuals.

As I get to know their personalities better, I become even more eager to figure out why they were brought back and what will happen to them next.

The Living Are Empathetic and Kind

I have to admit that seeing nude people who were covered in dirt crawl out of their graves would freak me out.

This is one of the reasons why I was so impressed by how James and the other residents of the town responded to finding the dead wandering around in a graveyard in the middle of the night. They were quite understandably shocked and confused at first, but they also quickly began rescuing the dead and finding a safe place to take them.

After giving up on a few other science fiction shows partially due to how poorly their characters behaved in a crisis, I was pleased to find one that shows people helping each other in an uncertain situation.

People Make Sensible Choices in This Universe

Do they always make the right decision? No!

They do have common sense, though, and so far they have been pretty good at learning from their past mistakes when something goes wrong.

This is the sort of thing I love finding in a TV show. It’s completely possible to have a great deal of tension in an episode without relying on a character to ignore something that happened five minutes ago in order to get them to wander into the wrong area or trust someone that they know they should be wary around.

The Opening Credits Are Visually Stunning and Important to the Storyline

Let me be honest here. I usually don’t pay a lot of attention to the opening credits of the TV shows I watch. Most of them are simply replaying scenes from the show that I already know. They’re fun to watch a few times, but the repetition eventually makes me lose interest in them.

This isn’t the case for Glitch.

While the opening credits are deceptively simple at first, they do give away some important information to anyone who pays attention to what’s going on in them. Without giving away spoilers, they’re also incredibly beautiful.

So do pay attention to them if or when you watch this show!

Here is this week’s list of comic strips, pleas, poems, paintings, and other tidbits from my favourite corners of the web.

Who Are the Undecided Voters? Too funny.

Good Riddance to October Rain via jdubqca. I thought this was a very appropriate and interesting way to say goodbye to the month of October. Wouldn’t you agree?

Discreet. An entire story unfolded in my mind when I looked at this painting. If you tell me how you imagined the next scene playing out, I’ll share my version with you as well.

Dabbling in Doubt: A Plea to My Church via SbethCaplin. I would have loved to find a church that allowed this kind of stuff back when I was a Christian. Would it have kept me in the faith? No idea, but it sure would have made my life easier as I wrestled with the big questions.

Neuroscience Says Listening to This Song Reduces Anxiety by Up to 65 Percent via vlb. Is anyone else interested in testing it out? It was quite soothing to me.

From Why Are Presidential Elections So Close?

I plotted the top two popular vote-getters in every U.S. presidential election since 1824, using data from The American Presidency Project. The top two contenders, typically a Democratic and a Republican, but occasionally a Whig, have danced closely around the 50-50 mark for nearly 100 years.

What have you been reading?

Someone I know recently celebrated a birthday. They were a little surprised by their new age because it is one of those years that can be associated with belonging to a different demographic. There are perks to reaching this age, but it also changes how companies market to you and what kinds of perks you can get from certain parts of society.

Old at 20?

That conversation reminded me of the first time I felt old. I was 20, and I’d just started working at a movie theatre. Nearly all of the other employees there were high school students.

High school was still fresh in my mind, and I didn’t feel like I’d changed all that much in the two to three years since I’d graduated. It was surprising, then, to realize just how little we had in common. I don’t mean this in an egotistical way at all. I liked my coworkers quite a bit as individuals, but we were living in two completely different worlds.

They talked about parties, who was dating who, and where so-and-so got that new shirt. I studied for finals during the slow periods and wondered where I’d go after I graduated from college in the near future. I’d started thumbing through the resources at my campus career office to see what kinds of options were out there.

Obviously I wasn’t objectively “old” at 20, but working with people who have a completely different outlook on life can definitely make you feel out of place.

Old (and Young) at Every Age

I know a few people who have been old at every age since I first met them.  They talk about their age negatively and use it as an excuse for for why they can’t do something. Every ache and pain is noted and shared in great detail with everyone they know. A pulled muscle or passing headache is given as much attention as a serious and potentially life-threatening illness like cancer or diabetes.

They refuse to try new things. Their knowledge of pop culture fell off of a steep cliff decades ago, and they have little to no interest in learning about anything after that era.

When I first met one of them, I genuinely thought she was twenty years older than her actual age. It took me quite a long time to realize the truth.

On the flip side, some people stay flexible. They accept the genuine limitations that may be placed on them based on their health or other factors, but they don’t use those things as an excuse to avoid trying new things or enjoying the stuff in life that they’re capable of doing.

Sometimes they feel young.

Sometime they feel old.

It all depends on who they spend time with and how they interpret the things that happen to them. You definitely can’t control all of it, but I do think there’s something to be said for remembering that being old is a relative term.

Suicidal Thoughts and Addiction: Preventing Tragedy During Recovery

Many people who find themselves suffering from an addiction will find themselves experiencing suicidal thoughts. People who abuse substances are more likely to attempt suicide, particularly if they have a mental health condition.
Taking measures to prevent or treat suicidal thoughts during addiction recovery, instead of focusing solely on the addiction itself, is a wise approach to your recovery. While your treatment plan should have aspects that cover mental health, there are some things you can do to keep your spirits up and depression at bay.
Learn to Meditate
Meditation is a very powerful tool to have at your disposal. The ability to calm your mind and quiet negative thoughts can be what gets you through this difficult period of recovery. People who meditate daily have been found to be happier, less stressed, and more mentally sound than those who do not meditate or only meditate in the face of difficulty. If you can incorporate meditation into your daily routine, you may be surprised by how much better you feel.
Eat Well
Changing your diet and coping with suicidal thoughts may not seem connected. However, when people suffer from nutritional gaps, their mental health can suffer greatly. By altering your diet to include all the important nutrients, you are boosting your mood and limiting your risk of depression.
Find an Enjoyable Hobby
Hobbies are wonderful distractions that allow you to keep your hands and mind busy. By having an enjoyable activity to turn to when your mood goes south, you are cultivating a healthy coping mechanism and teaching yourself to feel better rather than spiraling into the realm of suicidal thinking.
Crafts such as crocheting, scrapbooking, quilting, and whittling are all fun ways to keep yourself feeling positive. Of course, there are many ways you can improve your mood. In fact, some therapy plans will utilize art therapy as a way to recover.
Exercise Regularly
When you’re feeling down and out, it’s often difficult to convince yourself to get up and exercise. But if exercising is a normal part of your routine, you may find it easier to reap the benefits of exercise when you need them most.
Exercise produces positive endorphins that improve mood and limit stress. It’s one of the things you can do to help yourself through recovery, and it’s even used as part of some therapy groups. Pick something you enjoy that gets you active such as yoga, hiking, or swimming.
Finding ways to improve your life go hand in hand with coping with suicidal thoughts. Positive lifestyle changes such as exercising, eating better, finding a hobby, and meditating are all excellent ways to ensure that your mental health stays strong throughout the recovery process. There are many other ways you can tackle suicidal thoughts, and you should always inform your counselor of any depression issues you are having. They should be addressed in your treatment as well as at home. However, it is never a bad idea to learn to help yourself when your recovery gets tough.
Image via Pixabay by Mittmac.

Steve Johnson has written two guest posts for this blog: 4 Key Recovery Concepts for Suicide Prevention and Combating Depression and Is Your Work Life Out of Balance?.