Anxiety
Articles on how we can cope with the anxiety in our lives. Learning skills on how we can control our anxiety, healthy coping mechanisms and how deal with anxious moments when they do come.
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Misconceptions Surrounding Mental Illness
With Mental Illness Awareness Week occurring this week and with World Mental Health Day on October 10, I wanted to talk about misconceptions surrounding mental illness. Mental illness is an uncomfortable topic for many people. I find there are usually 3 reactions. The first is avoidance from those who are uncomfortable talking about it. The second is that of understanding about mental illness and these individuals are generally supportive. The last reaction is quietly admitting that they have been struggling with mental health and they want to talk about it more. Why Talk About Mental Illness Why talk about mental illness? My experience over the last few years has come…
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When Things Don’t Go According to Plan
So what happens when things don’t go according to plan? I am having one of those weeks where my well laid plans have not worked out. My Plan I had planned to do a great video and article about Finding Locations for Urban Sketching and things have not worked out as I hoped. It has been a week full of technical issues. A malfunction with my microphone has cost me hours of video. The video card in my computer has died leaving me without access to video editing software. This is just the start of the problems I have been having this week. As a content creator, I try…
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4 Lessons I Learned from Almost Anxious
Today I wanted to share with you the 4 lessons I learned from Almost Anxious. If you have been following my reading list for 2020, this is one of the books that I committed to reading to help my personal mental wellness. Why Almost Anxious? Almost Anxious is a book that was recommended to me by a friend. The premise of this book is how to deal with the “almost anxious” moments in our lives. One of the problems with anxiety is that we are often put into one of two boxes: anxious or not anxious. This criterion is not always helpful. Many of us have anxiety that is above…
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In Time It’s Going to be Okay
This week I have been reflecting on the changes in life that we all have been experiencing lately. There is so much uncertainty. How do we effectively handle our emotions when things are so unsure? The thought struck me that “In time it’s going to be okay.” Right Now it Does not Feel Okay Right now it does not feel okay. I found that for the first month of social isolation and distancing I was able to stay quite hopeful and focused. The longer this is dragging out, the more I need to force myself to be focused and to practice self-care. It requires more diligence and more focus than…
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3 Lessons I Learned from Daring Greatly
My book review this month is 3 Lessons I Learned from Daring Greatly by Brene Brown. This is a fabulous book about having the courage to be vulnerable and how it can transform our lives. For anyone who wants to greatly improve their self-care and mental health, this book is a must read. I wanted to share with you the 3 lessons that I learned personally from Daring Greatly. I am Uncomfortable with Vulnerability My first lesson from this book was realizing that I am uncomfortable with vulnerability. Brene Brown writes about what she has learned as a shame and vulnerability researcher. She speaks about her interviews with her research…
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How to Live Fearlessly During COVID-19
As many of us are dealing with the recent pandemic it has made me consider how to live fearlessly during COVID-19. I believe that we do need be concerned about the coronavirus. We definitely need to take precautions, but how do we live fearlessly instead of letting fear and worry steal our joy? Fear Based Living It’s easy to fall into fear based living. There was a period in my life where it felt like fear was an all-consuming reality. I was fearful of so many things, including interacting with others. When we are living in fear it is easy to fall into victimhood. Instead of seeing the world as…
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Coping with Anxiety during the Holidays
As Christmas Day draws near, there are so many things to do and so many places to be. This can bring with it feelings of being overwhelmed and anxious. Sometimes coping with anxiety during the holidays can be difficult. How do we find ways to lower our anxiety and find peace and meaning during this busy time? Having Anxiety is not Abnormal We all deal with anxiety at one time or another. It can feel like having anxiety is abnormal, but that is truly not the case. Considering the pace of our lives and the acceptance of busyness as a lifestyle, anxiety is an epidemic in our society. According to…
