YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

“Everything“ may not have been alright.

Please take care, Beany

Beany Boo wrote: ↑May 22nd, 2021, 4:38 am “Everything“ may not have been alright.

Word.

Thank you for sharing, Beany. I agree, take care. I look forward to hearing more.

Thank you all

I’ve started a practice of giving. It’s not a lot but it might be something.

I’ve printed out a template from the internet for a pochi bukuro. This is Japanese for pocket book. It’s a small envelope for putting change in to give people money or pay them back.

Every pay fortnight, I take a piece of decorative origami paper. I use the template to cut out the shape on the origami paper. I fold and glue the paper into an envelope just the right size to fit a folded up $5 note. I put the note in and seal the top flap with Washi tape. I glue a small square on the front with a hand drawn chrysanthemum on it.

I put the envelope in my bag. Then when I’m out in the street and I see a First Nations woman begging in the street, I give the envelope to her.

They usually say, “How cute!”

It’s a start.

“How cute!” is a safety thought.

Beany Boo wrote: ↑May 22nd, 2021, 4:38 am “Everything“ may not have been alright.

But it’s a full time job pretending it was.

I may not still be in the same trouble from when I was little.

I can gently stop; stop feeling in trouble.

Sometimes I give up completely and without reservation. But nothing happens. I’m just standing where I’m put and there might be a noise in the distance. A machine, a dog bark or traffic. And actually, it’s a profound relief. I can give up without consequence. It’s just one more thing I don’t have to struggle relentlessly to avoid.

Safety thought: when I give up completely nothing happens.