Broken mirrors

"She always did put too much of herself into her creations..." My name is Lavender. I'm chronically ill, neurodiverse, a geek, a sometimes comedienne (intentionally or otherwise), a foodie and I (burnout aside) care a lot about social justice. And the WordPress community. I used to know how to talk about trauma. And, I will …

Fandango’s Flashback Friday: Messages in a Bottle #21 Meteorologic Misanthropy Miniseries Intro flashback

Fandango over at This, That and the Other has come up with a fun challenge to expose readers to some of our earlier blog posts they, "May have missed." Re-post a post from this same date (September 17th) in a previous year. This turns out to also be an excellent excuse to keep posting something …

Brevity is the Soul of Apathetically #12: I exist

Hi all, I've been in absolutely severe burnout for the past six months. Well, really for the past ten. But, I dragged myself through it better for four of those. Reasons for it will be explained...eventually. When it doesn't feel overwhelming and daunting. Because have you ever noticed how the longer you don't do something, …

Pot Meet Another Kettle

Last time I wrote, I promised an honest review of adult psychoactive recreational substances as a solution for election-night anxieties. My review sums up to: I'm not "recreationally" affected, but they do make for slightly less unsettled sleep. My longer report is as follows: "Being the irony magnet scientist that I am, I have had …

Where’s Whoopsie #26: If Everything isn’t On Fire, I Must Be Missing Something…

I haven't posted a Where's Whoopsie in awhile. Apparently without live improv to afford me extensive time on public transit and in coffee shops, I don't draw much. My Partner noticed this and suggested I should prioritize doing something "creative" to ward off seasonal - and election and "in the house too often without other …

Patience is a Mental Health Challenge

Partner (detaching a cat from his shoulder after she had climbed him, lost purchase, and ended up digging in her claws to stay on him at all): “Trauma Kitty, you were doing so well just sitting in my arms. But, for some reason, you have the instinct that when things are scary you need to …

Trust in Mental Health Treatment #7/Messages in a Bottle #18: Meda-Analysis

Do you ever get handed such comedy gold that it’s actually kind of intimidating? Like, the low-hanging fruit is so low-hanging that you suspect it’s a trap**?  It’s terrifying, isn’t it? I mean, with a joke so easy it writes itself, how can you possibly screw it up?! So, of course, you panic freeze and …

It’s Not Delivery. It’s Depression Pizza!

CW: Discussions of the lingering relationships between food and life events. No specific mentions of disordered eating, but please use caution if discussions of food and/or emotional eating are potentially triggering topics. All descriptions of the related life events are in the past, though they are mentioned in the context of eating those same foods …

Cue the Waterworks

CW: emotional abuse, threats of self-harm (made by others, not me) and references to past childhood abuse (without details) I have a tradition I like to call 'Crying on Christmas Eve.' In the Before Times, when Americans were still welcome in the rest of the world, it was an annual pre-trip ritual I had to …

ACE in the Hole

CW: Discussions of childhood ACES. Mentions of alcohol use and verbal abuse during childhood. Read safely! Partner (on phone): "'Always,' 'Never,' 'I don't know how to answer that. It was 'Always' when we still lived there, but 'Never' now because we have public transportation? Well, okay, not 'Never.' Public transportation isn't perfect out here, and …