Category: From the heart

Stream of Consciousness Saturday 16 November- 2019 – My Dreams

Linda is the host of Stream of consciousness Saturday

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “dream.” Use it as a noun or a verb; use any way you’d like. Enjoy!

2019-2020 SoCS Badge by Shelley! https://www.quaintrevival.com/

~*~

I had a dream

I dreamt that I was in

A world where we loved

Each other irrespective of

How we looked and spoke

The color of skin didn’t matter

Race and ethnicity was irrelevant

I wish that this dream that I dream

That I share with millions others

Becomes a reality in my lifetime

~*~

#Keepitalive

#SoCS

Reena’s Exploration Challenge # 113

Reena’s Exploration Challenge #113

REENA SAXENA is the host of Reena’s Exploration Challenge

Welcome to yet another brilliant week!

I’m still reeling under the magic of multiple responses to multiple prompt words. I’m more than happy to see the creativity that flowed in, encompassing the prompt words, and intermittent spaces being filled up with brilliance.

I can’t resist the temptation to repeat it at least once. So, here is a set of images. Choose one or more or all, and create magic once again.

IMAGE PROMPTS

Reena’s Exploration Challenge #113

I am using these two images for my poem.

~*~*~*~

Seal your lips with a pretty smile

Let no words of censure escape them

Stay quiet and bear all that is dealt to you

It is a women’s place to absorb all the abuse

~*~

As for me, you know I don’t see so well

My myopia makes it hard for me to discern

The harsh realities of life often escape my notice

I just try to look inwards and here I see no evil

~*~

The death of innocence and birth of cruelty comes together

One dies when the other is born out of human apathy

Staying quiet when it is time to speak up can do so much harm

Not seeing what is wrong right under our noses can destroy

~*~

Tear away this gag of silence and speak up your mind

Throw away these myopic blinds and see how wrong

The world has become when people are turning a blind eye

To all that injustice, hatred, and bloodshed going around us

~*~

#Keepitalive

#ReenasExplorationChallenge

Daily Prompts- A tribute

Keeping tryst with fate

They strode out with grace

Their bravery was proved

When they stood between us

And those who strove to destroy

What we had built with love

Today we open a window to past

Leaving the neoteric notions aside

And admire how they fought

Sometimes with the simplest of weapons

Only their courage and spirit supporting

The will to defeat the enemy

And to protect what they valued

More than their own lives

In response to the following prompts;

Your daily word Prompt;

Neoteric

3TC;

Tryst, Wrist, Twist

FOWC;

Window

RDP;

Bravery

#Keepitalive

#FOWC

#RDP

#3TC

#DailyPrompts

Working on Us- Week # 22- Fear of rejection

Beckie of Beckie’s Mental Mess is the creator of this challenge.

Hello, All! Welcome back to “Working on Us” – A series that represents people with mental health illnesses/disorders. 

~💚~

 

Week #22 Topic: Rejection and Overcoming Rejection

Why Do We Fear Rejection?

There are many facets to the fear of rejection. Here are some of the main reasons why you might fear being disliked and shunned:

  • You fear to be alone and isolated from others
  • You’re scared of having your worst fears confirmed, i.e. that you’re unlovable, stupid, ugly, worthless, a failure, etc.
  • You fear to have old trauma triggered, i.e. feelings of abandonment from childhood
  • You’re scared of the end product, i.e. plunging into depression, anxiety, self-loathing, etc.

~💚~

Questions Prompts:

  1. Have you ever been rejected by family/friends because of your mental illness/disorder?
  2. Has anyone mistreated you to the point you felt like you were nothing?
  3. Have you ever confronted the person/persons that have made you feel this way?
  4. If the answer to #3 is “Yes”, was anything resolved?
  5. Has rejection changed you in any way? ie… Self-Esteem, Depression, and/or changed your opinion the way you feel towards the human race as a whole?
  6. Or, has rejection done the opposite and made your stronger and more resilient?

~💚~

If you choose not to answer the questions and rather write a narrative about a certain situation, please feel free to.  For that matter, you can choose any way you want to handle this topic.  If you want to write a poem, short prose, etc… Please feel free to express yourself the way you would like to.

~💚~

Fear of Rejection

 

Help Break The Stigma Surrounding Mental Health

 

 ~💚~

My narrative;

I am sharing things from my own childhood, where I faced the fear of being alone.

One thing I must make clear that this post is not about self-pity. It is about overcoming obstacles thrown in our way by circumstances and life itself.

As I have mentioned before I lost my mother at the age of six. I had two brothers, one older and one younger to me. My father remarried after a couple of years. Things were going well but then my youngest brother was born. His birth heralded a change in my stepmom’s behavior. She became very possessive and jealous about us sharing our father’s love with our stepbrother. As he grew up, her insecurities grew too. She would be comparing what we got as in clothes etc. with what her son got. It was very petty-minded of her. Gradually life became very tough for us three siblings.

She tried to create a rift between us and our father. Though she was unsuccessful, she managed to create an atmosphere of resentment and tension in our home. Her jealousy drove her to the extent that she would lie about things or exaggerate them out of proportion to make us look bad. Luckily, we three siblings had a bond of love and a stronger bond of a common enemy to hold us together. We were always there for each other in our growing years. But as my brothers grew up they found activities and life outside the home to be more attractive and free from stress and hence they were not around that much when I hit teenage. I was a shy girl and didn’t have many friends.

At this time in my life, I faced a sense of isolation and fear of being alone in life. I felt that I was unwanted and useless and would often give in to bouts of self-pity and crying. It is a long saga, which continued till I got married and moved out of my father’s home. I don’t blame my father because we never told him what was going on. He was suffering from CAD (coronary artery disease) and any stress was bad for him. So, we suffered in silence.

But from this situation, I discovered my inner strength. Little by little, I started to feel good in myself. I always had my father’s love to support me, so I started to disregard the arrows of criticism and dislike aimed at me. My past formed me. Now I have achieved the mental state that I always wanted. Where I am not bothered about what others think of me or about my actions. I feel that having faced a tough time growing up, I have developed a resistance to being bullied. It has helped me overcome my fears of rejection as I know my own worth now.

The lesson learned is that people may want to subdue you, they may want you to feel unwanted or may try to isolate you, but you can overcome this by believing in yourself. By knowing your good qualities and by loving yourself.

 

#Keepitalive

#WorkingOnUs

Daily Prompts- Before Desperate Times!

How oblivious are we to the growing ubiquity of environmental pollution? It sometimes doesn’t even register in our conscious mind that things are not copacetic! In fact, the deterioration of the climate and weather conditions should bring home the stark truth that if we don’t act now, the rich tapestry of life on this planet is in danger. The green forests and the frozen glaciers are all at risk. A change in the circumstances of how we use our resources needs to happen now.

Those who are profiting from using the fossil fuel should stop their festivities on earning mega millions and think about the world their children will inherit. Before the time to take desperate measures arrives, do something now.

Make a change in the laws.

Make a change in how we exploit the resources.

Make a change in how we think!

In response to the following prompts;

Your daily word prompt;

Ubiquity

3TC;

Circumstances, Oblivious, Tapestry

FOWC;

Copacetic

RDP;

Festivities

Word of the day challenge;

Desperate

#Keepitalive

#3TC

#FOWC

#RDP

#DailyPrompts

Working on Us Week # 18

Beckie is the creator of Working On Us.

Hello, All! Welcome back to “Working on Us” – A series that represents people with mental health illnesses/disorders. 

~💚~

~💚~

This week is going to be a little different, meaning I’m not going to set prompts in place.  Due to the sensitive nature of this topic, I’m requesting you, the reader, to write a narrative of your experience that caused your PTSD-Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and CPTSD-Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the treatment you have received.

~💚~

PTSD & STRESS – PTSD Stress Cup Theory | Healing From Complex Trauma & PTSD/CPTSD #anxietyovercomingtips

 

Rules:

  • Write your own post and create a pingback to the original post here.
  • There are no right or wrong answers.  Write in any format you see fit.  (Answer’s, fiction, non-fiction, poetry, poem, short prose…anything, and/or narrative).
  • You can do one or all prompts.

  • You have from October 9th. through October 15th.,  to submit your entries.

  • Please reblog the original post in order to spread more awareness.
  • ( If you the blogger have a suggestion/question you want to ask in the future weeks, please submit them in the comment section of this post).
  • Let’s see if we can get some men involved in this week’s prompts, your viewpoint/feelings are validated here too!
  • Plus, as an added bonus, whoever responds to the following prompts will automatically be reblogged to promote your blog site and spread more awareness!

~💚~

Do you know why you're exhausted? PTSD | post traumatic stress disorder | veterans | trauma | quotes | recovery | symptoms | signs | truths | coping skills | mental health | facts | read more about PTSD at thislifethismoment.com

~💚~

Though I have not been in circumstances which cause PTSD, there is someone close to me who was. I want to write about her struggles.

She lived with him for three years.

Three long years. He never harmed her physically. But he tried his best to break her spirit. She survived, her spirit bruised but intact.

The story started with marriage. She married young, just 23. He seemed normal. Had a steady job. His family appeared normal too. There were no red flags to let her know that danger lay ahead. How wrong and deceptive it all was.

Within the first few weeks of marriage, she started to realize that this guy wasn’t the average anger young man, he had serious mental issues. Which, both he and his family refused to acknowledge. When he came to know of the pregnancy, he insisted she get an abortion. She resisted. Stood her grounds. She wanted this baby. Her punishment went as long as the pregnancy. He wouldn’t even talk to her on most days. Any prenatal visit, he never accompanied her. She went through it all by herself, because he didn’t wanted the baby in the first place.

After the baby, nothing got better. He wouldn’t do anything for the child they had. His behavior to her was harsh and threatening. He would humiliate her often, specially if there were people around to witness it. There was several incidents when he did so in front of his family and friends. At the end of the third year of marriage, she called her parents and walked out, never to go back.

Why did she stayed so long in that destructive relationship? Because she is strong willed. Defeat was never the first option for her. She didn’t confined in her friends or parents even. She tolerated everything in an effort to provide a family for her child. She was threatened by physical violence by him daily and kept at a level where she was constantly afraid for her and her child’s life.

She came out of that marriage suffering from severe PTSD!

She never consented to getting treatment for it. She thought that the taboo attached to getting psychiatric help would add to her burdens. She is angry at time, unreasonable at others, but she is pulling through this, all on her own. I admire her courage so much. People have tried to convince her to get help but she refuses.

But being the strong person she is, she has managed to get a good degree after her divorce. She is raising her child well, much better than most parents as she is very sensitive to the needs of her baby.

Why I am sharing this?

Because if there are any people reading this who have similar circumstances, please get treatment so as not to prolong your hardships. And to also tell them that there is sunshine on the other side of this darkness.

#Keepitalive

#WorkingOnUs

MLMM- Sunday Writing Prompt “Ugly Words”

Quotefancy-353183-3840x2160.jpg

~*~

There was a time that we, the three siblings weren’t supposed to air our grievances against out step mother. My father was suffering from coronary artery disease since his early forties and we were told by our grandmother, his mom to not to tell him about those incidents as it would increase his stress levels. So whatever treatment that was handed out to us by her, we didn’t share it with dad. And though there were some outbursts from my elder brother, we the two younger ones kept our own council. We were lucky to be close to each other and gave courage and support to each other. We would sometimes sit and plan to reveal it all to dad, but would chicken out at the thought of repercussions that might come our way.

She wasn’t a bad lady, just small minded and jealous of us. She tried to create a rift between us and our step brother and also tried to malign us to our father, but without success.

Now she is old and infirm. My father has passed away some fifteen years ago. I could go up to her and ask her why she did what she did than. But now I see the futility of this action. I have chosen to forgive her and made peace with my past. I hope that she has too!

~*~

The Prompt;

This prompt is all about exposing and expressing an unpleasant truth. To yourself. To a loved one. To a rival. To society as a whole. Now is your chance to scream and let go of those pent up emotions. Give yourself permission to speak and be heard. Also feel free to talk about the toll that repressing your emotions has had on your mental/physical/emotional/spiritual health and on your relationships.

In response to;

MLMM- Sunday Writing Prompt- Ugly Words

#Keepitalive

#MLMM

#SundayWritingPrompt

A Kind Gesture

A nice gesture can make your day or someone else’s!

A couple of days ago at the grocery store, a girl walked up to me. After giving me a smile she told me the I had beautiful feet! I was hit by multitude of emotions.

I looked at my feet, clad in my glittery fit-flops, and couldn’t see anything extraordinary there. Maybe my shoes were nice or the color of my nail color. Anyway, flustered, I said” Really?”

I wasn’t hunting for more compliments but I couldn’t believe that she meant my feet.

She smiled again and assured me that they were really beautiful. I guess beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Or in their kind hearts.

She did something spontaneous and beautiful. It made my day. Filled my heart with pride and happiness. It made me think. There are many a times I feel like complimenting someone I see when I am out and about. People I don’t know but who impress me with their behavior or appearance.

But I usually shy away from doing so. I feel I might offend them or maybe appear weird to them. It does take a lot of guts to walk up to a stranger and pay them a compliment. It wasn’t always so, but nowadays, we are more hesitant to do so because we don’t know how it will be received.

I do share smiles, if I manage to make eye contact with others. Some just look the other way and some reciprocate. This is also a way to spread joy, by giving joy to someone.

The point of this post is that we should not feel shy or reticent if we want to compliment someone. It sure adds to their day.

Being kind and thoughtful doesn’t cost anything. Just like good manners and politeness.

Spread joy.

Make someone’s day brighter!

#Keepitalive

#SpreadingJoy

How To Be A Wise Blogger

Another gem of a post from Renard! Our blogging expert.

Renard's World

how-to-be-a-wise-blogger

I will admit, that even though blogging is not rocket science, it requires a lot of a person’s time and effort to do it effectively (No one really gets it right the first time around).

As time passes, you will acquire various types of blogging gems — bits of pieces of wisdom that applies to blogging.

The funny thing is that these blogging gems are not complicated; they are quite simple (You may even chuckle a bit when you realize how simple they really are).

So, without further ado, it is disclosure time!


View original post 1,579 more words

Reena’s Exploration Challenge #107- The unbridgeable gap

REENA SAXENA is the host of Reena’s Exploration Challenge.

Most of us are crossing over from one season to another, in different parts of the world. Some may travel to other parts of the globe to escape the harshness in one. It is nice and predictable. It keeps us busy preparing for the next course of action, and yet another.

What happens when we see nothing at the other end?

That is today’s one-word prompt to challenge your thinking, folks…

PROMPT #107

Reena’s Exploration Challenge #107

~*~*~

According to some the gap between the haves and have nots is unbridgeable. They usually are those people who have created this gap. Right now the divide between the rich and the poor is widening into a chasm and the middle class, which is the most important part of the society, is shrinking rapidly.

The statistics say that the top 5% of world population holds around 75% of the total wealth of the world, while 95% of population holds the rest of 25% of the wealth. ( Source; Wikipedia)

So apparently, it seems that indeed this gap is unbridgeable.

But is that really so?

Can we not share the resources and funds with those in desperate need of them?

It really is not an impossible task. We just need to think humanely. As they say “sharing is caring” But do we really care?

Do we care that millions of people go hungry every day?

Do we care that millions of children cannot go to school because they can’t afford the cost of education?

Do we care that people fall sick everyday because they don’t have clean drinking water?

The number of philanthropic people and organizations working to better the lives of these people are not enough to make a significant impact on the situation.

We need more people to join in in the efforts.

We need more awareness.

We need to care more!

Do we care?

~*~*~

The prompt;

Incorporate the word in your piece – be it fiction, poetry, essay, anecdotes, memories or any other format that you choose. It is okay, if you do not include the word, but capture the spirit and let it reflect in your work.

Post it on your blog, and link it up here. If the pingback does not work, please copy paste the link in Comments. Tag it ‘Reena’s Exploration Challenge’ for easy search in the blog roll.

Enjoy a blast of creativity…

#Keepitalive

#ReenasExplorationChallenge

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