A (mostly) Positive Post

[Houseofpain]

After my last post I thought that regardless of how I feel that it wold good to have a positive post to come back to which could help all of us - particularly people who are extremely isolated. We could write a list of things we do to help make us feel a little bit better even though the pain and health issues can be horrendous to deal with. Some of my list is stuff I used to do and would like to get back into - chronic pain takes the motivation out of everything but this is kind of a note to self and hopefully you'll all join and talk about the things you love - and we can come back to this post for a positive reminder.

Talking to like minded people online about common interests

Making artwork using photoshop to create pics

I rarely read anything aside from online stuff but I'd love to get back into reading books.

Courses online - again there was one I had planned to do and still need the motivation.

Decluttering - throwing stuff out, giving stuff away or selling stuff I don't need

A bit of pampering - bubblebath/bath bombs/bath salts

Listening to your favourite music

Writing

Dancing

This probably all sounds a bit cliched but it's all I've got at the moment ! I'll keep editing it.

Some Helplines which may be useful-

Samaritans - 116123

CALM helpline - 0800 585858

No Panic - 0300 772 9844

Saneline - 0300 304 7000

Hope this helps or resonates some way and doesn't sound like a load of the word that we've all had enough of !

[BabsyWabsy]

Thank you HOP, this is a good idea. I like to get out into the countryside, and ideally interact with some farm animals. Guts permitting of course.

[Houseofpain in reply to BabsyWabsy]

That sounds lovely.

[xjrs]

Great idea to remind us of things that we can do to help ourselves feel a bit better.

[Blearyeyed]

I get out with my camera whenever I can ( and my OH is willing to take me somewhere interesting!).I used to be a professional Land and Nature Artist but it was a very physical job in the outdoors and IBS doesn't always respect the lack of facilities.

I have other conditions too including Chronic Dysautonomia, Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and Fibro , to name but a few. The Dysautonomia is pretty disabling and I can't go out "unsupervised" so I have to mainly enjoy Living Life at Home ( I hate the negativity of the term Housebound) . None of these are really helpful when you need to walk across fields to work or be safe weilding a chain saw!

Even managing small scale stuff on canvas or at a table is mostly beyond me now because of the position I need to be in to do it.

I used to use my camera just for research but it's my main creative outlet now. Even if I'm just managing to take shots at home or on my daily exercise stroll. We managed to drive up to Pen Y Pass, Snowdon this weekend and I got some nice mountain photos as well as managing to make a very tiny snowman on top of a dry stone wall. 90 minutes of slow paced bliss!

It's always good to try and focus on the silver linings , not matter how small they are , take care ,,Bee

[Houseofpain]

Wow ! Really inspiring stuff! I relate in many ways to the things you have said about doing what you can on a different scale to how you may have done things in the past but sounds like you are really proactive about getting out there where possible and being pragmatic with it. Impressive work!