Nerd Church - Brain Fog Days

Warning: this post discusses brain fog as a symptom of Depression/Anxiety

Disclaimer time: I am not any kind of medical, psychological, or neurological professional. I'm a chick with a blog and some personal experiences - nothing more, nothing less.

Some days, my brain does not work.

Call it brain fog, call it fuzziness, call it extreme mental fatigue.

It's common with migraines (which I get,) and Depression and Anxiety (which I have,) as well as a whole bunch of other conditions - including Long Covid, for which it's gotten a lot of media attention.

Nerd Church - We Don't Make Good Decisions When We're Tired, OK?

'Three in the morning is never the time to try and sort out your life.'

- Matt Haig, Reasons To Stay Alive

Most of us have been there - it's a ridiculous time in the night, you're utterly shattered, and you're still trying to get things done.

You inevitably make a mistake -

because you should be sleeping 

- and you decide that your entire life is a sh**-show, and you need to leave everything you know behind and move to the mountains and breed chinchillas or something equally random.

(...Unless that's a long-held ambition of yours, in which case don't let me stop ya!)

Nerd Church - The Writer Diaries: Run To The Next Tree (Write To The Next Full Stop)

 

Wanna see how far you can run? Wanna train to run a marathon or a 5k or whatever it is running-people do?

Find a tree.

Nerd Church - I'm Resisting the Onslaught of January Hustle Culture

 

It's that time of year again - the time when everyone and their great-aunt Lucy is trying to get you to buy into the ideals of work and productivity.

January is a webscape of blogposts which promise to increase your productivity by 1000%! or earn 50 times more by adopting THIS winning attitude! 

Vlogs of new fitness regimes/money-making schemes, which seem more like shaming lectures than helpful tips.

Humble-brag tweets about how 'few' followers/views/monies someone got last year, and how they're gonna do so much better in 2022 - and you can too if you enrol in this course!

...And under-pinning it all this vibe of having to do more! more! MORE! or else you only have yourself to blame for your unenviable position in life/work/Western society/whatever.

Nerd Church - Embracing the Minimum And Learning To NOT Go The Extra Mile

I don’t half-a** things.

It’s not in my make-up. When I do something – work, writing, whatever – I put my everything into everything.

And that’s good. I like to think it shows in what I do.

But as part of my on-going attempts to learn that over-working is an unhealthy coping mechanism...

...and that I need to, y’know, not work myself to exhaustion, I’ve been trying to figure out what it means to put my all into things without all the negatives.

And I’ve realised something – I can do the minimum (or, at least, not the maximum,) without half-a**ing it.

Nerd Church - Battling My Puritanical Work Ethic (and Society, I Guess)

 

(Warning: this post discusses chronic illness and ableism, as well as negative stereotyping. It also references grief, mental health problems, and Coronavirus/Covid 19)

Nerd Church - Random Life/Blogging Update (It's Been A Rough Week)

 

It's been an extremely rough week.

And I'm emotionally exhausted, at this point.

My grandmother passed away last weekend. 

And even though we'd known, for a while, that it was coming - even though we'd almost lost her twice this year already - it still hurts like hell.

Nerd Church - Anticipatory Grief: Mourning Before Death

(Warning: this post discusses Coronavirus/ Covid 19, grief, mourning, bereavement, death, dying, and last illnesses)

People don’t talk about anticipatory grief.

Which means either they’ve never been through it, or they’re too mixed-up with the shame and the hurt to talk about it.

Which sucks. Because this is hard enough as it is, without pretending that it isn’t happening.

Disclaimer time:

I am not a counsellor, therapist, or other mental health, or medical, professional.

I am a chick with a blog who has been through some sh**.

If you need help, please seek it in the appropriate places. You're amazing, and you matter.

When someone you love is ill – like, the kind of ill where you don’t expect them to get better – it’s hard. It’s really hard.

And one of the things that’s hard about it is that you start grieving while the person is still with us. Maybe even planning things – running through funeral details in your head.

Friday Fics Fix - The Falcon, The Winter Soldier, and Healthy Coping Mechanisms

 

'“Look at me and tell me this doesn’t look like an accomplished person to you!” Sam was holding a giant teddy bear in his arms.'

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (TFATWS) series means these characters are both living in my head rent-free.

Depending on what happens in the finale (released today!) we might all need the smooshy mental-health-based comfort of this fic. 

(Which comes complete with a slight dose of angst, because despite my apparent adulthood, I am a smol emo child, and you all know this.)

Nerd Church - How I Use True Crime Media To Boost My Mental Health (Yes, Really)

 

(Warning: this post discusses true crime, and though it avoids details of murders, it does reference various topics surrounding true crime. This post also discusses Depression/Anxiety.

Any links to other websites may have further details of true crime, though I've tried to avoid anything graphic; I am not responsible for the content on these sites.)

I find true crime media weirdly helpful with combatting the affects of my mental health problems.

I put true crime shows on the TV sometimes in the evening, to wind down before falling asleep.

I clamour to Netflix true crime to calm my Anxiety.

I watch true crime docs or YouTube videos while I'm working to help me concentrate.

Friday Fics Fix - I Am Utter Trash and Do Not Care To Hide It

'...“But when he doesn’t show up for pancakes it's good practice to make sure he hasn’t fallen down a manhole or something,”

Klaus resists the urge to hiss.'

You know I love novel (or novella) length fanfiction.

The beautiful dedication that it takes to write a piece like this always makes me smile.

Friday Fics Fix - Keep Calm and Carry On

* = commission link

'The massive box of 64 crayons calls to me, every one of them waiting to be picked and pressed to a page. (I could have gone for the box of 120, but that seemed like too much.)'

This week's fic is from a fandom that is super-popular, but also not especially well-known outside its core fanbase.

 ...which is why I'm going to do a very brief explanation of Carry On* aka the Simon Snowverse just so's we're all on the same page.

(I realise that a lot of die-hard fans are probably screaming that how could anyone not know about Simon Snow?! But we do not gatekeep here at Dora Reads, dearest nerdlets.)

(Fandom notes:

gatekeeping - also a non-fandom term, when used in fandom this typically takes the form of 'you're not a real fan of [insert fandom or genre or author, etc.] unless you've [insert arbitrary benchmark]')

Month in Review(s) - January 2021

(Warning: this post discusses Coronavirus/Covid 19)

On a personal level, January sucked. Bad.

My beautiful Nan got Covid, and combined with her other health problems, despite the fact that she had very few symptoms, we nearly lost her. 

There are very few things more distressing than watching someone you love slowly fade away via video link.

Honestly? If you're STILL not taking Coronavirus seriously, you can fuck the hell off.

And, dearest nerdlets, you know how upset I have to be to swear without censoring myself. 

I really wanna delete a few letters and add *s, but I'm not gonna, cos despite the fact that I'm a nice well-brought-up Welsh girl, that's how annoyed I am, and how much you suck if you're one of the selfish people who still isn't taking precautions.

Nerd Church - A Simple Sleep Game To Help You Get A Good Night's Snooze

(Warning: this post references Coronavirus/Covid 19. It also talks about sleep problems a lot, but you probably guessed that.)

I go through periods of having trouble sleeping through one thing and another, and with Covid Lockdowns very much in place, it wouldn't surprise me if other people are also having trouble dropping off.

(Ironically my main sleep problem right now has four paws, a tail, and wants to play at 3 in the morning.)

So, while there may be a variety of factors that might stop you from getting to sleep, and any number of things to help you actually fall asleep, I thought I'd let you in on my simple trick for nodding off.

Nerd Church - What's Behind the Covid Arts and Crafts Boom?

(Warning: this post discusses mental health problems, especially Depression and Anxiety, and the Covid 19/Coronavirus pandemic)

I've always been an artsy, craftsy, sort of person.

I'm one of these people who can never name their hobbies when asked, but actually has somehow accumulated so many hobbies that she can't physically fit them all in to her timetable.

(Part of the solution to that is to make some of your hobbies into your employment, but that brings its own challenges.)

And most of those hobbies are creative in some way.

So yeah, I'm a big fan of the arts and crafts!

Nerd Church - Covid 19: Have A Safe and Happy Christmas

 

(Warning: As you can probably tell from the title, this post is about Covid 19/Coronavirus)

Christmas in 2020 is gonna be weird. I think we all know that.

I think, if those of us who celebrate go into it trying to make the best of things, it's gonna be better than complaining about the things we can't do.

(Although, a notable exception is the British tradition of enjoying a good moan about everything - but the key to that is you have to really enjoy it. Otherwise it doesn't count 😉)

At the same time, if you're not feeling it this year - if you're sad, or angry, or any combination of things - then that's OK too.

You feel how you feel, and feeling guilty that you don't feel how you 'should' at Christmas is only gonna make you feel worse.

I realise that that's something of a paradox - make the best of things and look on the bright-side, but also accept it if you feel cruddy and don't put too much pressure on yourself - but I'm a walking contradiction kinda gal 😅

Friday Fics Fix - My Stand-Out Fics of 2020

 

It's December in a matter of days, which means that Friday Fics Fix will be going on its annual Christmas holiday.

...So what better opportunity to look back on the fics that've really stood out to me in 2020?

(Don't answer that. It's rhetorical. I'm gonna do it anyway. 😎)

2020 has been 2020.

So, I've totally been reading a butt-tonne of fanfiction as self-care. 

Because fanfiction is excellent for all the self-care purposes - whether you need deep and angsty, or sweet and fluffy, or you want to fulfil some very um, specific, tastes: fanfiction has it all!

(I don't judge. But if I never read another pumpkin sex fic, it'll be too soon. And yes, it happened again in October - how do they keep finding me?!)

Nerd Church - Working From Home More? It's Time To Set Some Work/Life Boundaries

(Warning: I briefly discuss mental health problems in this post - it's not graphic, and is written about in the context of self-care and healthy work/life boundaries)

A lot more people are working, at least in part, from home this year - on account of 2020 and all the Lockdowns and everything 2020-ish.

I've actually worked from home for several years, and it's got a ton of advantages - but you also have to be careful to set work/life boundaries -

- especially if, like me, part or all of your income is coming from things which were once solely hobbies - it tends to blur the lines.

Disclaimer: This is the bit where I remind you that I'm not any type of mental health or medical professional.

Neither am I some kind of life or productivity coach (that would be scary!)

I only have first-hand experience of Depression/Anxiety, and using self-care to support myself - and hopefully my experiences can help other people.

Friday Fics Fix - The Good Trash, Because Its 2020 and I Need It

  ***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US*** 

Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.

'Mac slides the rest of the way out, rolling to his knees. Sweat is pouring down his face, stinging his eyes, and when he lifts his hand to wipe it away, he finds his fingers trembling. He stares at them, fascinated.'

 

I'm a big fan of the MacGyver reboot TV series.

I mean, it's often trash - but it's good trash. And I love good trash.

Trash with a genius who can use science to save the world is my kinda trash. (And lead actor Lucas Till is pretty easy on the eyes. It don't hurt. #JustSaying)

The current version of MacGyver started in 2016, with 4 series to date, and contains much less questionable hairstyles than the original 1980s series.

Nerd Church - 5 Things That've Kept Me Going In 2020 (So Far)

 

(Warning: this post discusses Coronavirus/Covid 19, Lockdowns, and Depression/Anxiety)

Since I'm once again in Lockdown, and now it's not just local but national for Wales, I figured I'd have a vague ramble about some of things that've been keeping me going through the weirdness that is 2020.