Cheryl Rainfield

Whatever you do, please don’t stop reading.

Read for joy. Read for education. Read for resistance. Read banned books. Read books by marginalized authors. Read about experiences that differ from your own.

Just. Keep. Reading.

ABC: Reinstate Jimmy Kimmel

If we want to make the dream of a multi-racial, gender-diverse democracy a reality, then we need to fight back all attempts to dismantle our country's free press. Take action to demand ABC stop enabling authoritarian censorship and reinstate Jimmy Kimmel now. app.sosha.ai/s/vJhY1kOg

I hope you can do something too for your mental health. #creativelife #mentalhealth

Today is one of those hard days for me so for my mental health I did some art projects, and one of the things that I did is fill out a tiny little book locket with little marker drawings of a rainbow and stars. I think it's cute and sweet and it makes me feel good.

Yes, safe touch is not romantic or sexual. Like you said, a reassuring hand on the shoulder, even holding hands with someone you feel safe with a hug, or it could be deep pressure touch, or cuddling with someone safe where it's clear there is no sexual or romantic overtones.

It can make such a healing difference when we get safe touch.

working on a craft; giving yourself kind gentle words the way that you would a friend, the way that you would a child that you love; giving yourself things that you needed as a child. Those things can be so healing, and I hope you can give yourself some softness. #mentalhealth #traumahealing

I hope that you can create some softness in your day today for you - laughter with a friend; a hug with a friend; time to just relax and let your body relax and breathe; read a book; or do something that brings you a little bit of calm or a little bit of creativity;

And especially for those of us who didn't get safe touch or didn't get enough of it growing up it can help a lot with healing, and filling that need. #mentalhealth #traumahealing

I don't think our society values enough or sees the importance of both safe touch and being heard with compassion and empathy. They don't take away trauma, they may not fix problems, but they can help us in healing and they can help us feel connected to others and know that we matter.

I hope you have some safe people in your life who you can be all of you with, and where you receive compassion and empathy. #mentalhealth #encouragement

do whatever it is that helps fill our souls. I hope that you're able to do that. #mentalhealth #selfcare

and things we're dealing with. It's okay to take a break, it's okay to take care of ourselves and our mental health, put down the phone for a while and do something else that feels good - read a book, talk to a friend, laugh, play a game, do something creative,

Self-care can look like not doomscrolling, like stopping looking at social media for a while. I don't think that we are built to take in that much bad news all the time, especially when there is a lot happening in the world that's hard, and we all already have our own trauma and our own issues

and helps bring you back into the present and knowing that in this moment you are safe. #encouragement #mentalhealth

I hope you find some laughter today, even if it feels like you can't. I hope laughter surprises you. I hope that you have laughter and a feeling of safety, security, and comfort. I hope that you can do something creative, maybe some art, do something that takes your focus

I hope you keep talking to and reaching out to people who you care about, being emotionally honest with them, offering support and receiving support. It can be so healing and important and needed. #mentalhealth #encouragement

To me the love and the connections we have with other people are some of the most important things - the things that help remind us that we matter and we belong and we are cared about and that life has meaning - love, connections with other people.

I try to show them in many ways, but I always, always say it. I think the words are really important and they're something to hold on to, something to feel and take in, and they can be healing. I hope you can also tell the people who you love that you love them. #mentalhealth #compassion

I was never told that I was loved growing up. Of course I was never shown love; I was only shown hate and abuse, but I was never told that I was loved, and that's such a healing and important thing to have happen.

I make sure that I always tell the people that I love that I love them.

and they want to do that for you. I hope you're able to let people in, let empathy and compassion and love in, and let people be there for you in the ways they can. #mentalhealth #traumahealing #encouragement

I hope that when things are hard you're able to reach out to people who you care about, tell them what's going on. They care, they want to know. It's not being a burden; it is connecting with other people, it's asking for support and reassurance, maybe, but you would want to do the same for them

I hope that you feel seen and heard by people in your life, that you know that you matter and you belong, and that you deserve to receive and experience compassion, empathy, and love - including from yourself. #encouragement #traumahealing #mentalhealth

I'm glad. And thank you.

I hope that you can see all the beauty inside you, the strength the courage, the love inside you that other people see in you and that they experience from you. I hope you can see that in you, too. #encouragement

It helps so much to have support and to talk about it with other people. It also helps to be able to hang on to some hope. I hope that you can hang on to some hope or do a what if: What if it turns out to be so much better than I thought it would be? #mentalhealth #anxietydepression #traumahealing

And if I think about past times, often things worked out okay or better than I thought. And even if things are hard it doesn't mean that we can't get through and that we won't be okay on the other side. It feels like we can't when things are really hard, but we can still get through.

And the worrying and the despair and hopelessness doesn't help anything, and it is something that our abusers or bullies wanted us to be in because it is a state of inaction, and it is state of giving up or despair - but we don't know what it's going to turn out to be like.

I try to remind myself when I'm feeling really hopeless, despairing, or anxious that we don't know how it's going to turn out yet, whatever it is that I am worried about; we don't know & it could turn out to be so much better than we can even imagine or hope for, or it can just turn out to be good.

If you've been really anxious or stressed lately it can help to get out in nature & intentionally notice what's around you, be in the present, slow down, read a book, make a craft or art with your hands & be creative. It can help connect us back to the moment, the present, & our life #mentalhealth