The Ravager

~ revivedwriter ~ 2 Comments 
It has taken so much, 
All my mental illness -- 
With its poisonous touch,
A decade gone, lifeless,
But I have made it through. 

But I have made it through,
Picking the pieces up
Until they form some art:
This is my suff'ring's cup,
This is my beating heart.

Mental illness has taken up the vast majority of my life and completely ravaged my adult life. I’m still picking up the pieces, trying to get a job and find my vocation, etc., but now there’s real hope.

I’m still thinking about what that priest said and struggling to find any good in such a horrific situation, other than perhaps a deep well of compassion inside my heart, but is that really worth it? Society doesn’t think so. My mom doesn’t think so. She thinks I’ve had an easy life. I don’t want to get all “woe is me,” but just because I don’t have to go to an employer every day, doesn’t mean that my life has been easy. Especially in the past.

Anyway, as I said, I have real hope now, and I am trying to make something good out of all this brokenness. Okay, I’m going to sign off before I start crying.

Shopping!

~ revivedwriter ~ Leave a comment

This week, I am participating in Share Your World again!

1.  Do you enjoy shopping? (food, clothes, shoes etc)

I do like to shop sometimes, but once I decide I am done, I am DONE. I also do not like shoe shopping. About a week ago, I went to the mall because I needed to buy a new bag, and I also found beautiful earrings for the great price of $7.


2.  What is something you used to buy often but either buy less or no longer buy at all?

School supplies: now that I am out of school, I don’t buy much at all. However, being a writer, I receive many notebooks as gifts.


3.  Food shopping only: do you prefer to shop in person or on-line?

I buy food in-person, never online. That just seems weird to me, especially for things like fruits and vegetables.


4.  Do you use charity shops (I believe this is Goodwill for my American readers), car boot sales or village hall / church hall sales (which I remember as jumble sales)

Yes, I love Goodwill and thrift stores! I don’t care about being particularly fashionable, just that I like the clothes, and clothes are expensive at the mall! Even on sale, it was like $28 for a skirt.

Gratitude:

This week, I am grateful for my coffee — always my coffee — and for my friends. Since joining the young adults group, I have made several new friends. 😊

Sleepy Time

~ revivedwriter ~ 2 Comments

Today’s SoCS prompt is “sleep,” and I wrote a quick acrostic:

Settle down,
Let the day go:
Expect sweet dreams,
Elect to sleep
Peacefully tonight

Speaking of sleep, I have been extremely tired the last few months. I have been sleeping around 12 hours a day, without even wanting to nap most of the time but needing it. I made an appointment with the doctor, but it is not for another month.

Somehow, these are gifts

~ revivedwriter ~ 2 Comments 
Light can shine
Through broken people:
I am a broken vessel,
Which somehow reflects the light also --
God makes whole

This poem was inspired by a priest friend of mine — the priest I met when we went to France — who posted on Facebook about the mental health of priests and bishops. In a comment, I shared a bit of my experience having a mental illness in a religious milieu. He responded, among other things, “Your understanding and insight are a real gift!”

This happened days ago, and it has stuck with me because my “understanding and insight” are born from personal experience, which hasn’t felt like a gift, most of the time. I guess it was kind of shocking to me to see his comment, that he said that.

Do any of you have any thoughts on this?

Writer’s Workshop 8/20

~ revivedwriter ~ Leave a comment

For this week’s Writer’s Workshop, here are our 6 prompts:

  1. Write a post inspired by the word extension.
  2. Write a post in exactly eleven (11) lines.
  3. What is the next major event you’re preparing for? What do you need to do to prepare for it?
  4. What’s the most amusing thing that happened in the last week?
  5. A classic – Tell us about your ten favorite snack foods.
  6. Tell us about something you need to have repaired.

The next major event I am preparing for is my younger cousin’s wedding at the end of September. She lives in Utah, so I will need to go on a plane, but I already bought my ticket. Or, more accurately, my dad bought my ticket.

Thankfully, I do not need to have my attitude repaired: as this is my younger cousin, I thought I would be jealous, but I’m not. I am excited for her wedding and the party afterward! I might not even want to get married, so it would be silly to feel jealous of her.

I need to write an extension of this blog post to get to 11 sentences. Here are a few of my favorite snack foods: trail mix, popcorn, and all types of cookies! My favorite cookie is probably chocolate chocolate chip, but Paris Baguette makes a wonderful white chocolate macadamia nut cookie.

I don’t know if anything amusing happened in the past week — other than my cats’ antics — but the most amazing thing was finishing reading multiple books! Okay, I have to re-audition for choir tonight — wish me luck!