Lived Experience Forum

[FloatingFeather]

I couldn't agree with your words more @SmilingGecko 🙂

[Meowmy]

@Judi9877 hey Jude,sorry to hear you're not feeling well.Life is hard. Everyone has own issues. Every day is a challenge. We all feel low on and off. You are great person. I read about your great courage, positiveness,kindness,compassion, care. You are inspirational. Take care. See you soon

[OscarJones]

Thank you for being so brave and vulnerable @Judi9877 . That in itself is such a special quality to have. I love the fact that you have put a quote in from Frozen. When I personally am feeling low a Disney movie always makes me feel calm and gives me a sense of comfort. I also wanted to share this quote from one of my favourites- 

“Bad days happen to everyone, but when one happens to you, just keep doing your best and never let a bad day make you feel bad about yourself.” — Big Bird 

💛💛💛

[Appleblossom]

Oooh @Judi9877 

I agree with all the replies here. Those arts degrees are not cookie cutter recipes for getting jobs, but they can open your mind. You are enough.  You do good for others.  Dont compare yourself, even though its natural to do it a bit, it rarely helps.  Give those negative thoughts the flick. Ease up on the pressure on yourself.  Enjoy your holiday and maybe volunteering when you return or a part time job... its fine.  

[maddison]

Hi @Judi9877 

I agree with all the members beautiful replies & cannot add anything else.

Read them again, they are from me too! (Haha, that is a very easy reply isn't it? I am being honest, as you know)

I really like the idea of aged care work for you, in my opinion. Not necessarily personal care, if you don't want - more like a social role, where you could visit & chat over cups of tea & share your knitting. Or maybe you could combine your idea of starting a knitting group with in an aged care setting?

If you already have the opportunity available to you to volunteer, I think you should take advantage. I am a little envious! I can imagine that your social skills would be welcomed.

I have worked in aged before. Honestly, many residents are desperately in need of simple connection. A kind word, or smile. Don't worry about not being good enough - I think they would treasure your company.

P.S. if you decide to look into it. I wanted to mention, that you might need to clearly specify the type of role you are comfortable in (eg. activities/ social etc ) As you know, aged care is severely understaffed & I don't want them taking advantage. 🙂

maddison xx 

[maddison]

@Judi9877 , about 20 years ago!..I was looking into studying to become a Diversional Therapist in aged care. That's all the information I have. Thx

[Judi9877]

Good afternoon @maddison @Appleblossom @OscarJones @Meowmy @FloatingFeather @SmilingGecko @Shaz51 @Sirius @tyme @hanami @Paperdaisy @Daisydreamer @TAB @MDT @Rhye @TuxedoCat and all forumites here joining me in the jungle. Welcome!

Thank you very much to everyone who replied to my little rant in my previous entry. You have really made my day and I’m so glad to call you my friends here in forumland so thank you! I’ve decided that I will look at volunteer work and applying for help via a disability employment agency once I have my holiday for a week which starts in 2 weeks time whereby I’ll be holidaying in Echuca for a week. There’s no point in starting something now if I can’t follow through with it because of me going away on holidays. I know it could be hard not doing anything really productive besides knitting and stuff at home but I know that deep down, this is the best way forward for me right now. I need to be able to follow through on any plans in regards to potentially starting any roles and I see this break as being important for me and in some ways necessary for my health considering the past few months I’ve had health wise. At least with this holiday in Echuca, I can relive my childhood memories of the location I spent with my family on holidays there and also get to make new memories with my housemate/best friend who hasn’t been there before. She’s very interested and excited to go on a paddle steamer boat which we’ve booked tickets for so I’m also looking forward to that as well. We’re staying in a holiday cabin which I’ve made sure is bigger than the 1 I stayed in at when in Bairnsdale back in late April/May this year so again, that’s a positive for us and I know I’ll enjoy my stay there, especially as it’s the same caravan park I used to stay in as a child. Yes, the links to my family holidays are strong in Echuca and I’m proud to say that as they were good memories there and my mother loved the town by the Murray River which is also special for me.

Onto other things now!  This afternoon, I put in place a non-medicated coping strategy for myself when I had an episode of my mind racing full of knitting ideas and generally just a crazy and chaotic place to be in my mind that I often refer to as the Jungle. My housemate decided to visit Spotlight on her way to the hospital for treatment and purchased me 3 bags of wool on sale which whilst was nice and very thoughtful of her, made my mind jump into ideas mode with things I could create with the wool when I got it from her when she came home. This is despite me knowing full well I’ve got at least 3 knitted projects already on the go as well as 2 crochet blankets and plenty of wool for more projects lined up, including a pile of wool set aside for my housemates birthday present of a new blanket they had to be completed by early November. Anyway, as my mind was racing and I found it hard to calm down, I decided to resort to making myself a warm cup of tea and moving away from my bedroom where I was surrounded in wool and hence, ideas, and take in all the goodness of it and just being in the moment with the tea. Sure enough, it worked as I sat in my arm chair with the new heater on and my cat Mitz, curled up near me, listening to One Direction on my iPhone. I felt a lot calmer and happier and less stressed/frazzled and I noticed I was able to get my mind back to a reasonably normal pace which was a great feeling. I’m pleased that I didn’t resort to using medication to calm myself down like I may have previously done in the past and I see that as being a massive achievement mentally for me and one to be proud of. I was able to take myself away from what was causing me issues- the wool situation in my room and via my housemate- and use a cup of tea and a new space to gather my thoughts and regroup which had a positive outcome for me. Maybe this is a sign that I’m growing mentally within myself and learning more about my mental health, its limitations and issues and becoming more aware of what I need and what resources I have available in my coping toolbox besides relying on medications? I don’t know but I’m proud of me and that feels good to be honest. I know that medications have a role in mental health and I know they work because I’ve experienced this but now I’m also seeing that there are other ways to handle my mental health issues besides them and that’s a wake up call for me and a lesson I’m proud to have learnt. 

Time for me to go and work on the last strip of a border for my adult charity blanket I’m still knitting. Thanks for reading this!

Take care!

Judi9877☺️🧶🌻

[TAB]

Wool bad , then wool good .. dunno , yet sounds familiar re wheel of life @Judi9877 

[StuF]

Thanks, as always @Judi9877 , for sharing what's happening in the Jungle 🙂

Take care and knit on!

[TuxedoCat]

Heya @Judi9877 this post has brought a smile across my face ❤️ 

I also think you should feel proud -- you've recognised this amazing new coping strategy and it calmed you. I'm proud of you too. When I'm feeling frazzled, I also like a quiet cup of tea in a new space to ground myself. 

And I really relate to what you said about medications having their place, but it's nice having other tools in our toolbox ❤️ It means we have more tools for more situations hehehe

Sending the biggest of hugs,

TuxedoCat