Tag: mental-health
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Expansion
Everyone has a group of friends. Over the years, people come and go, but the overall size of that circle usually stays about the same. Someone moves away, someone new comes into your life, and things naturally balance themselves out. It’s a little like breathing. Air goes in, air comes out. Expansion and contraction happen…
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Excavation
Almost immediately after her passing, I found myself wanting to be free of the mountain of things she had accumulated. There were many clothes that had been purchased but never worn, including a drawer full of delicates, along with other things that were well past their prime but held sentimental value. The sentimental attachment was…
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Snuffleupagus
According to Wikipedia, Mr. Snuffleupagus from Sesame Street is a large, furry creature belonging to his own unique animal species called a Snuffleupagus. He looks like a cross between an elephant, a woolly mammoth, and a dinosaur. I can relate, Snuffy. I was tall as a Freshman in High School, so the feeling of being a lumbering mammoth rang…
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Nature
The outdoors is good for my soul. The more time I spend just existing outside of our home, the more in touch with myself I feel. I’ve mentioned before that I kind of lost the identity of who I was outside of the duality of our relationship. Every decision, every day, opens a new door…
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Reflection
Many years ago, I worked as a Portrait Photographer for Olan Mills Portrait Studio spending my day photographing singles, couples, and families for over 2 years. It was very much a dream job for me, especially when I was managing the studio in Renton, Washington. One day, we had a client come in who had…
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Codependency
Codependency in relationships involves becoming so invested with each other that you can’t function independently. I didn’t realize that I had become codependent initially, I just assumed that it was part of being a loving spouse. As the other person starts to falter due to age related pain or mental illness, the other side of the…
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Beginnings
I didn’t want to change. I was satisfied with the way it was going even when things were hard. I was comfortable with how things were – even with all of the drama that comes with mental illness. Each one of us, Mel and myself included, had some form of mental trauma that we’ve been…
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Hope
My first introduction to this word came from the name of my first school, Hope Lutheran School in Seattle, Washington. It started out as just a word associated with my education but I soon discovered what it meant to hope – and the reasons why it was important. At that time, I hoped that I…
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Friends
While I may have started out life with a limited friend group, the older I got – the larger my friend pool became. I have a few friends that I have known for most of my life having gone to school most of my super long-term friends, and some who I have only recently met.…
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Rejuvenation
By definition, Rejuvenation is the act or process of making someone or something look or feel young, fresh, and energetic again. Ever since Melanee’s passing, I have not been able to shake the feeling of being overwhelmed and under pressure to do a lot of things even when no one was pushing. Kind of a…