Category: Uncategorized
Am I in a Healthy Relationship?
Does your boyfriend or girlfriend treat you as well as you treat him or her? Does your BF or GF support you in good times as well as bad? Does he or she get who you really are? Find out if you’re in a healthy relationship… more
Aimed primarily at teens, but still some good information no matter what age you are, particularly on the page that talks about signs of an unhealthy relationship.
That which yields is not always weak. Choose your battles with care.
Kushiel’s Legacy series by Jacqueline Carey (via truestargoddess)
Sigyn as a Child
I don’t have a lot of experience with Sigyn as a Child, but I thought I’d try to put something together.
UPG: Sigyn is the offspring of one of the Aesir and a Jotun (specifically a Mountain Jotun, for my experiences). Because of this, She was abandoned (probably somewhere in Asgard) and eventually found by Njord, who took Her in and raised Her as a Foster-father.
From what I’ve gathered, She isn’t fond of discussing Her life before Njord found Her. This doesn’t mean She may not discuss it with someone, just that I think it’d be more tactful to approach this topic cautiously (and with the possibility that She won’t want to discuss it).
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Colors: Pastels.
Animals: Urchins, butterflies, ladybugs, snails.
Imagery: All kinds of beach stuff (first example coming to mind – seashells), white and/or pink flowers (see this Ask).
Offerings: Actions that help you connect to your inner child, butterscotch hard candies.
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More can be found at this shrine.
My tags: Sigyn as a Child, Deity: Sigyn* (general stuff).
What’s the Difference Between an Anxiety Disorder and Just Feeling Anxious
A: It’s normal to feel anxious or worry once in a while. But if those feelings start to impact your work, personal life, or health, then you may have an anxiety disorder.
As Charles Goodstein, MD, a clinical professor of psychiatry at New York University Langone Medical Center, puts it: “What makes a disorder is when people have anxiety that mounts to such an intensity that they’re no longer able to cope with it.”
Anxiety disorders, which center around excessive, irrational fear or dread, affect about 40 million adults in the United States. Some of the most common types of anxiety disorders are agoraphobia, or the fear of being in a place from which you can’t escape or avoid embarrassment; panic disorder, which triggers recurring panic attacks; and generalized anxiety disorder, in which a person worries constantly.
Physical symptoms may include a quickened heart rate or skipped heart beats, rapid breathing, dry mouth, sweating, trembling, and dizziness. While mild anxiety can subside relatively quickly, symptoms associated with an anxiety disorder last at least six months and can worsen, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
Even children can have severe anxiety, particularly at stressful times like the start of a school year. “Anxiety disorders are the most common thing kids come to a psychologist with, and around August or September we see a lot more kids coming in for anxiety,” said Sanno Zack, PhD, a child psychologist for Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif.
What causes anxiety disorders is unclear, though it’s likely a combination of genetic, environmental, psychological, and developmental factors.
The U.S. National Library of Medicine suggests seeking help if you experience:
- Dizziness, rapid breathing, or a racing heartbeat associated with panic.
- Inability to function at home or work.
- Uncontrollable fears.
- Flashbacks to a traumatic event.
Studies have linked anxiety disorders with substance abuse and an increased risk for suicide, so any severe, persistent symptoms should be reported to a doctor. Treatment typically includes medication, psychotherapy, or both. You can find resources for treatment and support on the Anxiety and Depression Association of America website.
What’s the Difference Between an Anxiety Disorder and Just Feeling Anxious
I had an interesting conversation with thornedlily Sunday night/early Monday morning that I wanted to share with you guys (their permission has been granted). This metaphor was new to me but the revelation was not, even though it was new to her.
Topic was depression.
I confided to her that I can feel my depression rearing its head for another black bout. She then compared depression to a wild, unbroken young horse that you have to coax back into its stall with a carrot. I found that analogy brilliant and told her so. She laughed and then said you could go crazy with the analogy if you wanted. Like braiding glitter into the horse’s hair and keeping the spiders away from it to keep it happy.
But really, that analogy works! Depression isn’t just this dark infection that you can never walk away from. It’s flexible. It’s fluid. With depression you have to learn what ‘breed’ you have. You need to learn what triggers it to arise in you. You need to learn to resist the impulse to collapse into it and feed it along. You need to learn if and how you can head off a bout. You need to learn what proactive coping mechanism works for you be it medication, therapy, or other, or all of the above. You need to learn to open yourself up instead of shutting yourself away.
So yeah… if a glittery mane and no spiders are what tames your horse by all means break out the tinsel and braid some in. Spider-proof that stall and then close the door and walk away. At least until you can feel the wildness breaking free again.
I’m not even trying to be ablest. I’m telling you to be proactive about your depression. I learned this lesson early and from necessity. My mom is 50 and she’s just now trying to learn this lesson after living the life of an addict. The struggle I see in her trying to learn this at her age, changing her entire life, relearning everything she thought she knew about herself and her mental illness… it’s heartbreaking. I have other family that never learned it at all and they’re miserable living miserable lives. At this point they’re too deep in their misery, too used to it to try and climb out. I want to save as many people as I can from the fate of black life lived in misery. You CAN walk away from depression. Sometimes for good, and sometimes just for a little while, but you have to figure out how to tame it in the process if you let it run wild it’ll shit all over your life. I promise you, you will come out stronger for it.
Don’t believe me? Watch this.
Family Caregiver Alliance
FCA is first and foremost a public voice for caregivers. Founded in the late 1970s, we were the first community-based nonprofit organization in the country to address the needs of families and friends providing long-term care for loved ones at home. We illuminate the caregivers’ daily challenges to better the lives of caregivers nationally, provide them the assistance they need and deserve, and champion their cause through education, services, research and advocacy.
Long recognized as a pioneer in health services, FCA supports and sustains caregivers with national, state and local programs and resources:
- National Center on Caregiving– FCA’s NCC unites research, policy and practice, to advance the development of high-quality, cost-effective programs and policies for caregivers in every state
- Family Care Navigator is sponsored by the NCC and helps caregivers locate support services by state
- Link2Care, is an online discussion & support group managed by FCA intended for clients of California’s system ofCaregiver Resource Centers, especially focused on caregivers of those with Dementia
- Bay Area Caregiver Resource Center is the CRC for the six-county San Francisco Bay Area, operated by FCA. FCA’s Family Consultants, educated & licensed in social work, work closely with families caring for ill or elderly loved ones.
Our services, education programs and publications are developed with caregivers’ expressed needs in mind, to offer real support, essential information, and tools to manage the complex and demanding tasks of caregiving.
My amazing friends…I am in trouble and I need your help! I normally like to keep these things private, but it has come to this. I have won my disability case and will be seeing payments in a month or so. Unfortunately, I was served with court eviction papers yesterday and my payments won’t start quickly enough to save me from this. I have until July 10th to come up with $2000 or my daughter and I will go homeless.
I am having a 10% sale that will end on that date, in hope that it will make a difference. Use coupon code SAVINGHOME to get 10% off your entire purchase through July 10th!!! Please help us by buying something beautiful!
Lovely handcrafted jewelry, and at a discount. Help a family avoid eviction, and get something pretty at the same time.
Even if you can’t afford to buy, please re-blog to get the word out. Every little bit will help.
Thanks!!
Pain and Suffering are Different
‘The First Noble Truth declares unflinchingly, straight out, that pain is inherent in life itself just because everything is changing. The Second Noble Truth explains that suffering is what happens when we struggle with whatever our life experience is rather than accepting and opening to our experience, with wise and compassionate response. From this point of view, there’s a big difference between pain and suffering. Pain is inevitable; lives comes with pain. Suffering is not inevitable. If suffering is what happens when we struggle with our experience because of our inability to accept it, then suffering is an optional extra.
I misunderstood this when I started my practice and believed that if I meditated hard enough I would be finished with all pain. That turned out to be a big mistake. I was disappointed when I discovered the error and embarrassed that I had been so naive. It’s obvious we are not going to finish with pain in this lifetime.
The Buddha said, “Everything dear to us causes pain.”… Those of us who have chosen the relational life have made the choice that the pain is worth it.’
– Sylvia Boorstein, It’s Easier Than You Think.
Holding the Bowl 