Riding a wave

[CheerBear]

Lots of smiles at your post again @Phoenix_Rising ☺. I made a narwhal (unicorn of the sea and all - how could I not). It gets a bit tricky with the horn and fiddly in the smaller rounds. If you get tripped up I'll be around-ish and both @Former-Member and I have had a go at making one too so hopefully we can help if it might help. Can't wait to see it!

And big yay for awesome littles 😊

[OhanaSystem]

@Phoenix_Rising
You're so right! BPD is so misunderstood a lot of the time, and it's hard, but it is slowly changing.

I'm glad TTT has got you feeling safe enough to share something with her that isn't a strong suit of yours! I feel super pressured to be good at art of all forms because people find us creative and artistic and compliment various artforms that we do that we are better at, but it makes it hard when there are some that we are super not good at -- like drawing.

I'm working on a picture of a turtle at the moment and now I just keep thinking of you when I do! I started it at an art thing just over a week ago, and I just traced the turtle itself and am doing all lines for the inside. Maybe I will show you when it's finished (whenever that is!), if you want to see.

I like the way TTT's practice is set up and run! Ours is less reassuring but we don't have to face up to it yet, there's still time. When our psychologist leaves we'll probably go to a trauma service rather than continuing with someone else at community MH. But when she goes away on leave, like now, we see a MH nurse who is very sweet and kindhearted. He has no trauma background AT ALL though and though he's open to DID he knows very little. He says if we need to do trauma talk with him, we need to make sure we're really careful.

I hope things for TTT settle down soon so she can take you on twice weekly. I agree that that can be really beneficial for trauma stuff, and especially when someone is in crisis or near crisis.

[Catcakes]

Just watching you on telly @Phoenix_Rising.
( Blue Planet 2)
You are soooo beautiful and graceful.
Hope things going calmly for you just now.

[Phoenix_Rising]

@Catcakes I love that you are watching me on TV. I THOUGHT I saw a cameraman following me as I was swimming around the other day, but I wasn't sure if I was just being paranoid. 

@OhanaSystem Ooooh I would super love to see your turtle picture if you want to share it. 

The MH nurse you see sounds awesome @OhanaSystem. I often find that people who know very little, and KNOW that they know very little, are some of the most helpful helping people. My GP is like that. When I first arrived in Forum Land a year ago, I used to call her my baby GP. However, she has now been a GP for two years so I guess that makes her more a toddler GP. 

When I started seeing her, she hadn't even finished her final placement to become a fully-fledged GP and she knows almost nothing about mental health. Yet she is the best GP I have ever met. No other GP has shown the remotest interest in my MH issues. During the past two years up until I connected with TTT, my GP was very much keeping me alive and I was seeing her weekly for most of that time. She is so open to learning, and genuinely believes that I am the expert on my own life. We seem to have no communication issues and she is just shaking her head at the current muddle I'm in with some people who self-identify as mental health professionals. So yep, I have no problem at all with health professionals who don't know stuff...so long as they KNOW they don't know and are open to learning. 

@SleepyPanda it is super nice to see you here in Forum Land this afternoon. 

[OhanaSystem]

 here is the turtle to show you, @Phoenix_Rising, I hope you like him!! we traced the main bit and filled all the sections in with lines. We finished him off this afternoon instead of doing some of the things we're meant to do!

Your GP sounds antatstic! I'm so glad you have her. We want a trusted GP but the one we have our eye on isn't taking new patients since her pregnancy (boo). Funnily enough even MH nurse guy suggested her as a GP for us!

MH nurse very patient and kind man. He's also a good listeener, has a  doggy and is a daddy. We find it weird that we trust him because he's a him, but it's a good thing and T is very pleased we are starting to allow safe male figures to be in our life.

What have you been doing this weeekend to entertain yourself and pass the time?? Lots of swimming?

[frog]

@OhanaSystem that's a beautiful work of art! It's almost mesmerising.

[Phoenix_Rising]

Hi @OhanaSystem,

I SUPER like your turtle drawing. I think that is very very cool! Did you know there is an "arty" thread here in Forum Land? It's here. 

I love that you worked on your turtle drawing instead of doing some of the things you were meant to do. I can't think of anything that could possibly be more important than working on a turtle drawing. 

Your MH nurse sounds super awesome. I'm so pleased you have someone who you feel safe talking to. I can relate to the idea that a lot of him someones can be scary. However, I do know some super nice and safe ones too. There are even some here in Forum Land if you would like me to introduce you sometime. 

As a sea turtle, I spend all my time in the ocean. It means I have to remember this a lot:

Have you watched Finding Nemo? It is my favourite movie in the whole world. I saw Finding Dory too, but I didn't like it as much as I liked Finding Nemo. 

I have had a very peaceful weekend. I have spent my time playing in my garden, doing some yoga, playing my violin, and making my very first amigurumi, which you can see here. I'm not very good at crocheting at the moment, but that's ok. I will get better with practice.

What have you been up to aside from turtle drawing? I hope you've had a nice couple of days. 

[OhanaSystem]

Hi @Phoenix_Rising!

Did not know about the arty thread, but will have to comment there and follow it too, and the craft thread also! Love art and craft as well. We sometimes do galaxy paintings that are both simple and fun to do. And sometimes some of us follow easy tutorials to make other paintings. Also some of us do photography and a few other kinds of arty and crafty things. Maybe will share some over there some time.

Have been thinking about turtle and thinking maybe should do a series of different animals. Would like to do a giraffe which is our primary host's favourite animal.

Happy to meet hims on forumland! It's only in person they are so scary for us.

We super duper love Finding Nemo, and Finding Dory!! Agreed that Nemo is best.

I super love your Mr Narwhal! Knitting and crochet are hard and I can't manage them so I think it's super neat you created an animal! Amigarumi is very cool. One of our friends amigurumi'd us a giraffe plush long time ago. We still have him and he is super cool.

I'm glad you've had a peaceful weekend! Ours has been quiet. Weekends are hard for us because they are filled with so many hours of aloneness. On Sundays though our friend K comes over and spends some time with us for a couple of hours. Today we watched Leroy & Stitch with her. Also we made our dog a facebook of her own and did some work that needed doing -- some tidying and made a survey for our support service to share with clients about our upcoming camping excursion.

[OhanaSystem]

Thank you @frog! Sorry I missed this before.

[Phoenix_Rising]

Good afternoon on the ocean,

I am going yoga-ing soon and I may or may not reappear in Forum Land this evening. I have to say, I am SUPER enjoying my new crocheting adventure. Crocheting definitely counts as a super cool mindfulness activity! 

@frog it is super nice to see you out here on the ocean. I feel like I have been "liking" a lot of your posts lately without actually talking to you! It is so very hard to keep up with everybody in Forum Land. I super hope you don't think I've been ignoring you.

@OhanaSystem it would be super cool to see some of your art and craft projects if you want to share them on the arty and crafty threads. Giraffes are very cool. @Zoe7 super likes giraffes too! I love that you made your dog a FB page. 

I saw TTT this morning. I am so very very VERY grateful for her. Apparently I need to read Bruce Perry's books...although after she said this, TTT then said maybe I need to wait a while because they are likely to be triggering. 

TTT also said something else that I found really interesting (and validating!!!!). She said that it is now well known that the common saying about how you need to love yourself before anyone else can love you, is rubbish. Given that this is one of those sayings that infuriates me, I found this superly duperly validating. TTT explained that the reality is that a person develops their sense of self-worth by first being loved by another. It is through being unconditionally loved by a parent figure that the developing child internalizes their sense of worth. As I think most of us in Forum Land know, when this unconditional love isn't experienced, things tend to go awry.  I am so very VERY grateful for having finally found a therapist who gets attachment stuff. Interpersonal trauma can only be healed through interpersonal relationships. No amount of CBT is ever going to fix this stuff! Yay for those few special therapists who look beyond CBT!