Nerd Church - You Can't Do All of the Things, All of the Time (And That's OK)

 

I feel like it's a good time of year to remind myself of something:

I only have two hands.

Now, obviously, that makes sense literally (for me, at least) - but it works on a metaphorical/figurative type of way too.

I can only do what I can do - I only have so many hours in a day, so much energy to expend, so many resources to draw on... I only have two hands.

Nerd Church - Always Assume That You're NOT Lazy

Disclaimer time: I am not any kind of mental health, medical, or life-coach-style professional. I'm a random Welsh chick with a blog - nothing more, nothing less

Lazy people exist, I'm sure. 

Lord knows, we've all met a few in the course of our lives - and they'll keep on being lazy regardless of what I do or do not say.

But most people aren't lazy

- we just tell ourselves we are.

Nerd Church - Being Exhausted Is Exhausting

I've been trying, lately, to let myself be tired when I'm tired.

Now, that probably seems simple to a lot of you - you lucky folks who get tired and just... accept it.

But me? Apparently when I'm tired, my natural reaction is to do more. 

Which... uh... makes no sense. 

I'm going to assume it's at least partly down to the tiger vs. not tiger thing I've talked about before. 😅 

I.e. my weird little hooman bean brain thinks we're under attack and/or vulnerable in some way when I'm tired, and pushes me to be alert to the dangers/fight the tiger/whatever.

Nerd Church - Writing A Full Blogpost In 32 Minutes

 

Turns out, I can write a whole-a** blogpost in 32 minutes.

...I know - I was surprised too!

OK, so I was kinda brain-foggy this week, and ended up writing both this week's Comics Wrap-Up (CWU) and Friday Fics Fix (F3) posts the day before they were due to go live on the blog.

One day, I will be a blogger that can schedule content well ahead of time, but that day is a long way off 😅

Nerd Church - Some Reminders To Myself (And Maybe You, Too)

 

It's been a rough week, mental-health-wise.

So I figured I needed to remind myself of a few things - and hopefully some of them will be helpful reminders to you, too.

Disclaimer time: I am not any kind of mental health, medical, or psychological professional. I'm a chick with a blog.

Comics Wrap-Up - Chillaxed Vibes

 

It's July, it's Thursday, this is Dora Reads, let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness!

Month in Review(s) - May 2022

(Warning: this post discusses Covid, migraines, and mental health problems)

 

I know it's late-ish June. I got Covid.

...And I didn't want to just not do a post for May, because it was bugging me 😅

May 2022... *hysterical laughter*

OK, May 2022 was a bit of a rollercoaster for me.

Like, there was some really good stuff, some really bad stuff, and some stuff I point-blank don't know how to categorise.

Nerd Church - The Assimilation of Self-Care

Warning: this post discusses mental health problems and stigma

Disclaimer time!: I am not any kind of medical, mental health, or psychological professional; I'm a chick with a blog.

The system sees something and seeks to assimilate it.

Capitalism is a Borg Queen.

(I may've been watching too much Star Trek: Picard, but the statement still stands. 😅)

'Stunning 8K-resolution meditation app
In honor of the revolution, it's half-off at the Gap'

- Bo Burnham, That Funny Feeling 

Self-Care does NOT mean candles or baths or face masks.

Don't get me wrong: There's nothing WRONG with using candles or baths or face masks as a type of self-care - nothing AT ALL. 

Don't let anyone tell you any different. 

Nerd Church - Self-Care Wins From A Weird Week

 

I'm settling down to write this with some caution...

Because if the last few days have been anything to go by, the moment I really get into things, really get some momentum going... drama happens.

Month in Review(s) - April 2022

 

April was rough, mental health-wise.

I'm OK - just having to adapt and take care.

...It's kind of worse when there's no real reason or trigger because there's nothing you can blame, y'know?

...and it really doesn't help that the pollen this year is exceptionally, brutally, high, so my hayfever is extra-present this year.

Kind of hard to focus on your mental health when the pollen is making you feel like a zombie, lol.

(Oh, and hayfever is linked to climate change. #TrueStory.)

Nerd Church - Even Franz-Freaking-Kafka...

 

Ever heard of a writer called Kafka?

If it was up to him, you probably wouldn't have. 

But millions of people know his name - and have heard the term 'Kafkaesque,' which is a fancy and more succinct way of saying 'reminds me of the stuff that that Kafka feller wrote.'

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.)