Solace

BEING SELF-AWARE IS LIKE: • Realizing you're the problem. • Realizing you're also the solution. • Realizing you're also just a human doing your best. • Cringing at your past behavior in real-time. • Apologizing without defending yourself. • Noticing your patterns but still slipping into them sometimes. • Sitting with uncomfortable truths without spiraling. • Wanting to change but grieving the comfort of the old version of you. • Knowing better and still occasionally doing the dumb thing. • Choosing growth anyway. • Deep sigh. Carry on. VIA UNSENT LETTERS/ TINYBUDDHA.COM

Knowing is half the battle. The other half of the battle is loving yourself as you work towards improvement. We don’t change overnight, so self compassion is necessary. Otherwise the pain of our imperfections could put us into denial.

The way this is laid out, in columns but not columns, means it’s not copying accurately. I apologize. “Abuse isn’t always physical, it’s also abuse if: you experience you aren't you're walking on constant criticism allowed to make eggshells, constantly that focuses on your own monitoring your your character, choices or say. behavior to avoid personality, or things you can't no without angering, triggering, unpleasant change consequences or disappointing them @ igototherapy you feel like you can't relax or be yourself without negative consequences they withdraw love, affection, or respect in order to punish or control they accuse you of things that aren't true or things they're doing the goalposts constantly move: no matter how much you try to meet their expectations, it's not enough - the rules keep changing or demands keep increasing. they isolate you from loved ones; criticizing them, discouraging activities, guilt-tripping, relentless calling or texting when you're with you're expected to always be there for them & validate and soothe them, but your achievements or struggles are belittled or dismissed

Abuse seems to be both over and under utilized in current culture. It muddies the waters. Makes it difficult to recognize true harm that could prevent people from being loved and satisfied. Especially if you grow up with this, knowing what healthy love feels like is a mystery.

“Lead from your wound,” a wise man told me today.

What does that mean to you?

“I’ll tell you what Freedom is to me. No fear.” - Nina Simone

Panic is rising for many people in the US about prices rising due to #tariffs. #PanicBuying can be destructive. Make a plan and buy one extra thing a week. Let’s not recreate the TP crisis of 2020 or go into debt.

A heavily makeup’d Tammy Faye Baker (80’s TV preacher) wincing, crying, holding a microphone to her mouth.

Finding the space between caring about “the horrors” and encouragement/joy/hope without coming off like

Hey everybody look at my kick ass azalea LOL

“Just calm down and let people enjoy chatgpt.” Sorry, no. I find it creepy that folks are treating a machine that mimics human speech as their friend / therapist. It is feeding you lies. It is destroying your thinking abilities. Shut it off. Talk to other humans. Go outside.

Please let your inner critic have the week off. Life is tough and anything you’re able to do is valuable. (You’re doing much better than you think you are anyway.)

It’s good to be informed and involved, but not all day. Take a moment to look around you in the physical place you are in. Find one pleasant thing. Does the air feel good in your lungs? Is there a bird or flower? Are you with someone you appreciate? Are you resting in a cozy place? Enjoy

If you feel awful, go to the doctor. Especially if you have insurance, just GO.
If you don’t have insurance, find a public hospital, reduced rate clinic. It gets worse if you wait (illnesses (mental & physical) and our system).

Doesn’t love lie to us like that though? Especially when it’s unhealthy: “This is so amazing, you are loving like no people on earth ever have!!” = dumpster fire.
Then there’s the, it’s not me, it’s you, version of the blame game.
(Spoiler, I was crazy too)

YouTube video by Downeate LIBERTAD - Downeate - Mismas Realidades

Happy #WorldDownSyndromeDay. It falls on 3/21, because people with Down syndrome have three copies of the twenty-first chromosome. This is the best Down syndrome PSA ever made and I want you to watch and share it. #WDSD2025

Maybe it’s a way of making sense? Or describing the pain?

As a mental health clinician who’s lost a client, this resonated in my soul 😢 Grateful for the courageous depiction and I’m off to find a place to watch (BBC?)

This reminds me of the book Confederacy of Dunces. (Not that you are a dunce at all, just a great book, with a hot dog cart)

You’re stronger than you think 🐇💗

Sunset on a hilltop with leafless trees.

Touch grass, hug a tree, take a walk; we are in a relationship with nature, and always have been. Like any other relationship, our devotion brings benefits.

A photo of artwork- stylized letters in yellow and orange, “Stay Alive” with purple bubbly accents around the words.

#StayAlive
2021
You should stick around for the exciting next episode of your life!
#youmatter #stay #mentalhealth #reasonstostayalive
#art #artyear #Bskyart #graffitistyle #lettering #illustration #design

Two things can be true at the same time. It’s true there are some awful things happening in Washington DC. It is also true that millions of people in the US did their best to make the world a better place today. Thank you if you are one of them 🕊️
#nottheapocalypse #together #resist #hope

One of the greatest regrets dying people have is that they wished they'd been truer to themselves rather than living the lives people/society asked of them.

I think about that a whole lot, especially in this current situation.

It's not fame or money or work. It's self-acceptance.

On #InternationalWomensDay here’s info to save you from suffering:
🚩intense jealousy
🚩disrespects boundaries
🚩blames you for their feelings but you can’t take a joke
🚩stonewalling
🚩regularly neglects your important events
#manipulation #relationships #abuse #DV #domesticviolence

It’s part of the process of success to identify something isn’t working so you can move onto what will work. I got divorced 11 years ago; 4 kids, went on public assistance, lived in a hotel, etc. Now I’m happy, successful, wise, strong. You’re not at the end of your story.

there is no universal secret to creating. do what works for you. manifest those vibes. make a playlist. daydream. whatever. creating is tough enough. don't make it harder by forcing yourself into a method just because it works for someone else. just write. just draw. do you. you're doing great.

Music is saving my sanity! Yesterday I was filled with gratitude as I created a playlist, with some songs from before I was born. (prompted by fears about what will be lost in this #chaos)

What #songs bring you comfort or joy?
#music #coping #mentalhealth

A song I like says “if it weren’t for second chances we’d all be alone.”

🚨FEDERAL EMPLOYEES🚨
For those who are considering ending your life -for any reason at all- please do not do it. The financial gain for your family, if any, is not what fam needs, m’friends. They need YOU. We do, too! Please keep the hope alive even if it’s tiny… it’s there! Stay with us, friends. ❤️🐮

The sun shining on my face can help with any bad mood. Remembering it will keep shining long after I’m around to feel it is liberating.