Category: Self care
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Who Do I Care For, Really?
I spend way too much emotional and physical energy toward the care of others, aside from myself. Why do I care so much, too much? No doubt due to my upbringing, to my relationship to my parents – trying to please, to earn their love and approval. Why, after decades of therapy, do I still feel and act as…
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Am I Still a Mental Health Blogger?
What defines being a blogger, specifically a mental health blogger? Must I write regularly or frequently? Must I always write about mental health? What if that is not my focus ALL the time? What if I’m so busy that living with bipolar disorder is not in the forefront of my mind? What if I’m overwhelmed…
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Yes, I'm a Math Geek
By January 22nd I had scanned almost every home improvement receipt my parents kept since 1978 to help the CPA, my old boss, adjust the basis of their house to calculate capital gains. I scanned over 625 receipts! There is more work to be done, more information to be gathered, for my parents’ income taxes. I’ve also started…
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Time to Write Again?
Pre-Christmas Travel Writing I jump from one app to another. Jigsaw puzzle to reading to writing. Back and forth, writing and jigsaw. Uneasy. Jittery. Uneasy. Not at ease. Tense. Guilty. Dramatic, yes, but so fucking what. That’s who I am. I have no desire to change that about myself. Besides, honestly, I keep most of…
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Shedding a Few Tears
It’s been a year. It’s been a year since I noticed that my mother hadn’t taken her turn in Words with Friends. It’s been a year since my mother was verbal. It’s been a year since she could use language. Her passion was words. She spent her days playing word games. She was proud that she…
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Featured Blogger: Kitt O’Malley – Art by Rob Goldstein
Thank you, Robert Goldstein, for featuring me on Art by Rob Goldstein as his November featured blogger. The original interview is posted at: robertmgoldstein.com/2016/11/06/featured-blogger-kitt-omalley/. Here I reprint it. This month’s featured blogger is writer and Mental Health Advocate Kitt O’Malley. In this interview we talk about internalized stigma, learning to accept and taking up the challenge of…
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I'm at a Loss…
My son has missed WAY too much school this year. He’s attending a private school where he gets one-on-one attention and learns at his own pace, so he simply falls behind and the charges for missed classes just keep adding up. He had gastroenteritis earlier this year (which we all had and which we all…
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Nothering, Too Good, or Good Enough Mother?
Feminine Collective published Good Enough Mothering, a poem of mine about mothering a migraineur. Check it out: femininecollective.com/good-enough-mother/
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Wave the White Flag
Need to write out the pain and exhaustion in my heart Pain and grieving my parents’ dementias Pain and exhaustion caring for my son Must back off both Must take care of myself Must Must Must Must take care of myself Ready to throw in the towel To admit defeat To wave a white flag…