To the new visitor in my mind and memory but no longer in my life. Yes. You are right, I do need help. Your timing is impeccable but I won’t let you shame me into silence. The O in OCD means obsessive, including about getting well. I also have great attention to detail and unfortunately this gives me an amazing memory for your unsolicited opinions on how I live my life. It takes strength to be honest and talk about my mental health and illness, it is not a weakness, and it ha

They wear me and I am see-through, Exposed, uncovered Yet modestly hiding. The absolute worst Is in my mind. Stereo Vision. Doubt, Guilt. Guilt and Doubt Evil Twins. By Lena Britnell #Poetry #SelfExpression #EverythingElse

The day begins And I just know It's going to be One of those days. I dress myself With extra care. Trying hard Not to look down. A touch of red Slick like blood Reminds me We only live once. Transparent no longer I'm more solid now. I remember That I'll never give up. Just breathe. By Lena Britnell #Poetry #SelfExpression #MentalIllness

Who am I today? I think so therefore I am. Feeling everything. By Lena Britnell Poetry #SelfExpression #EverythingElse

Never giving up Just following flamingos Through rose tinted skies. By Lena Britnell Poetry #SelfExpression #MentalIllness

Mum, All that I am, I owe to you. The good bits I mean, The stuff that’s true. The things that come naturally, To love, to care. To be the one Who is always there. For others. And it’s fair to say, It’s not easy Carrying on some days. You do your best And that’s what I do. Faithful to that part of you. Am I’m glad, I work as hard as I do To be the best me Thank god for you. A Poem by Lena Britnell #Poetry #SelfExpression #Motherhood

Focus on the now, lighten up, cheer up, Just think about others that are much worse off. Worrying doesn’t change things, try harder and you’ll see The worst will never happen, what will be will be. Pull yourself together, cos the glass is half full, Count your blessings, pull your socks up, or someone else will! Get some perspective, lighten up or you’ll find Feeling sorry for yourself is just no good for the mind. Everyone gets anxious, has bad days don’t you know? But not e

It’s shaped me; all this stuff before, Though sometimes I don’t want to remember no more. The sense of being different, being set apart, Still hovers around, in my head and in heart. How I felt adrift, so strange, so different. Not quite fitting in, wherever I went. It was hard to deal with, in fact to survive. But best foot went forwards (just BREATHE!), stayed alive. Perhaps we’ve all been through it, in different ways We all have our battles, some struggling each day. Its

Earlier this year I read a great book about writing as therapy. Let it Out by Katie Dalebout is about the benefits of journaling, keeping a diary or doing writing exercises to help access and organise your thoughts. The guide takes you through some really great journalling exercises which can help get your thoughts, dreams (and fears for the really brave out there) into reality in a safe way - on paper. "Holding a mirror up to your face" and 'journalling both the good and the

As part of my MSc in Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) I am doing an assignment focused on developing my key character strengths. Amazingly I am free to choose an area of PP which I find interesting and relevant to my life, look into the theory and apply elements of it to my day to day life over the next 6-8 weeks and then report back. It doesn't feel like work so far, not in the sense that I have ever experienced it before anyway! To start with we have learned about what co

I was able to make some great progress at my last two classes - working on sets of four blocks at a time I was able to choose fabrics, cut the pieces and get them sewn. I chose the most simple blocks (no triangles!) and had to keep my head down mind! I absolutely love Tula's sketches next to each block - it was one of the reasons I decided to sign up for another year of the classes. The fabric I am using for my quilt differs from that used in the examples and in some cases is

When was the last time you made a decision to start doing something and started right away? Or stopped something and got right on the case? When it comes to this blog I knew that it had been a long time coming when I spotted on my bookshelf a couple of days ago a copy of 'Blogging for Dummies'. Brilliant I thought, just what I need right now! A quick scan through, and guess what? It's full of out of date information, recommendations about long sidelined social media platfor

I have been a bit lax this week on this project having gotten of to a bit of a manic start I have had somewhat of a crash. Choosing and naming my quilting blocks was fun, as was deciding on the layout but now I am not feeling so 'up' I'm having a bit of a crisis of confidence on whether I have the time and skill to even start this project. Whilst I deliberate, I will leave you with some of my planning from whilst I am was in #flamingomode (more on that sometime soon). I'll be

I am lucky enough to spend my Tuesday mornings in the company of a delightful group of ladies at a Patchwork and Quilting Class at my local Adult Learning Centre. The best part about this class is our amazing teacher Emma Dann and how flexible she is in how we approach our individual projects, enabling us to learn and get inspiration from both her and one another. My project for this term (perhaps the next year depending how long it take me) is a throw sized quilt based on th

Welcome to my blog! It has taken me months to work up the courage to create it and now finally start posting! I hope you like the design and find the format bearable! Enough exclamation marks, I promise no more in this post at least... Apologies for the rambling, I am very nervous to say the least in starting to journal in this way but I am looking forward to having an outlet to my thoughts (numerous), opinions and observations (plentiful) and, as part of my journey in start