Here we are at the end of May. They say May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Is it?
I’m not exactly sure what this means during a month like this one. At a time when everyone is quarantined and all eyes are on the news, and with the regular tragedies in the mix, the craze behind politics, the list of both information and misinformation, plus all the arguing and bickering between the right and the left does not show me a sense of awareness towards anything.
Category Archives: In The Classroom
How To Avoid Being A Crab In A Bucket
After a while, enough was enough. I suppose life has a way of moving in a direction. Something happens and eventually, no one can pretend anymore. Either the prophecy plays out or something happens and a light goes on. And that’s it. There’s no more pretending.
There’s no more excuses and there’s no more need to rationalize anything because suddenly, everything is what it is.
Finally, everything is out in the open and the pretending can stop. If this is the bottom, as they say, then this means we can rebuild from here, right?
Anxiety and the Thought Machine
Nothing is ever comfortable when anxiety hits. As someone that understands anxiety first hand, I have made it a point to reach out to others that struggle with this as well. I wanted to speak with people that live with different anxiety disorders or struggle with panic attacks.
As a means to learn more, I shared text threads with small groups of people that reached out when the anxiety hit.
This was not done as a professional by any means. Instead, the groups and conversations were used to gain a better perspective. Plus, I wanted to learn helpful tactics to help myself as well as others. More than anything, I wanted to understand what works best.
Freedom From Resentment
Everyone has a map from their past. This plays over and over in our thoughts. This is where our perception lives. This is where our opinions come from and where we hold the records of our old experiences. These are the blueprints we use to build the models of our predictions. We base our plans on assumption.
The records from our memory point our thoughts in a biased direction because of the math we do in our minds. We calculate our assumptions according to the variables of our previous involvements and associations. This is where fear comes from and where concerns begin to grow.
Continue readingCare After Covid
After the longest April in our history, there are talks about reopening the country. However, the fact remains that we are at war with something beyond our control.
The Coronavirus has taken so much from us all. Aside from the failing economy, the layoffs, and the unemployment numbers that continue to grow, and aside from the businesses that went under, and let us not forget the cancellation of normal everyday life; we have the cold stories of people dying alone in hospital rooms without a loved one in sight.
About Bullying And Responding
There is a quick suggestion I have. I hear people say this all the time too; as if it might be difficult or we need a reminder to do it.
The suggestion is simple.
“Just be nice.”
Sounds easy enough, right?
The truth is not so much.
Graduation Is Almost Upon Us
Here we are. May will be here soon. Next is the month of June, which means summer will be here before we know it.
There is something about this time of year. And there they are, the kids. Here comes the next generation, about to graduate, and be free to a whole new scene. God bless them.
Continue readingFrom In The Classroom: The Ripple Effect of a Bullied Brain
The following is based upon personal experience. This is not to say that I am a professional by any means. However, the ideas I am about to share are the ideas which helped me to understand myself and the ripple effect of my insecurity.
Continue readingThis Is For you, Kid!
Beware the angst of youth.
When you have no other way to voice yourself, then you have no other language beside your actions. And you try. You try to fit. You go along to get along but the frustration in your heart makes it impossible to play along.
Know what I mean?
Next, you find yourself in compromising positions, doing things you know you’re not supposed, which is fine, until you’re caught —until you’re cornered by someone, maybe it’s a teacher, maybe a principal, maybe it’s a cop or your parents, and then they ask you the most commonly asked question.
They ask you “Why?” to whom you answer, “I don’t know,” of course because there is honestly a part of you that doesn’t know why you do what you do. You’re not even sure why you say what you say. You just do it. But deep down, you know there’s a reason. You know there’s something in there but it doesn’t have a name or a face or anything you can describe.
Don’t Be Afraid To Try
I was ready to quit after my first class. I couldn’t help it. All I could do was look around the room and listen to the others introduce themselves. Everyone in the meeting room had letters after their name. They had titles and credentials. They had professional history, and worse, they all knew each other.
They were all players in the mental health field. They were all on a first name basis, and then there was me, passed the midway of my 40’s with a limited education and wondering if I could make a go of a new direction in life.
The Written Addiction 