arrest them! no, not the drunk guys

i’m doing NaNoWriMo again this year, this time determined to do all i can to make it to the 50,000 word count. so my blog posts may be sporadic, or short and sweet, or both. like this one. only it’s not sweet. at a walmart in lethbridge, told by a friend: a drunk native fellow… Continue reading arrest them! no, not the drunk guys

invisible

invisible illnesses are, by definition, not seen. there are two parts to this: the (un)seen, and the (non)seer. i’m not sure that invisible illnesses are in fact invisible. the man with chronic pain sits on his bed at 3:00 am, a gun in his mouth, ready to pull the trigger. he makes sure his wife… Continue reading invisible

bye bye B-line

for a while now, i have been working part-time for the mennonite central committee in richmond. i’d get on the 49 bus to granville street, and then take the 98 B-line down granville. granville is one of the older streets of vancouver, and that stretch down to the fraser river is lined by old trees,… Continue reading bye bye B-line

blogging yourself home

here is part 1 of my presentation at MentalHealthCamp on the topic “blogging yourself home – writing, blogging and creativity.” i’ll present it as if i was talking at the presentation and treat you, dear readers, as if you were participants in the workshop. here we go … when i was a little girl, there… Continue reading blogging yourself home

the archetypes: addict, magical child, hedonist

the following is an excerpt from carolyn myss’ fascinating “gallery of archetypes”. most of us can recognize ourselves in one or more of these archetypes, or typical ways of being in the world. in her descriptions, carolyn myss tells us about the positive as well as the shadow (some would call them negative) aspects of… Continue reading the archetypes: addict, magical child, hedonist

self esteem: the thread in the quilt of recovery

here is another interview with someone recovering from an eating disorder. this person used to eat too much, and has been and still is dealing with it by going to overeaters anonymous. isabella: “you’ve come a long way, baby” – how long HAVE you come? what’s changed? OA person: how long have i come? i… Continue reading self esteem: the thread in the quilt of recovery

recovery

here is the last instalment of my conversation with joanna poppink. this is part of a series of interviews about different topics in eating disorders. originally, i was going to tack the answer to my last question on to the second part of the interview. however, i realized that the answer to this question is… Continue reading recovery

panel discussion on mental health and blogging

yesterday i told you about coping digitally, a panel discussion about mental illness and social media that i’ll be part of at this year’s northern voice blogging conference here in vancouver this coming friday and saturday (february 20 and 21, 2009). it was airdrie’s idea to begin with; the other person who will participate is… Continue reading panel discussion on mental health and blogging

february buddhist carnival – on mental health (part 2)

this is part 2 of this month’s buddhist carnival. part 1 is here. the wild mind and the wise body i like this article by the wild moods that takes the actual here-and-now feelings and sensations of mental illness and uses them to get in touch with mental health … take a second to think… Continue reading february buddhist carnival – on mental health (part 2)