Category Archives: journal

Dealing with Anxiety

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For as long as I remember I have suffered from major anxiety issues and still do. Many people thought I had left high school at a very young age because I didn’t like it but the truth was I left because I was suffering from panic attacks, depression and extreme social anxiety at the time.  None of which my parents or close friends knew about.  Since then I have had few depressive/ anxiety episodes where they have grown into full blown panic attacks to a sense of overwhelming fear.  It has taken me a very long time but recent years have shown that I have somehow learnt to manage my anxiety to a more controllable state.  Here are 5 things I have learnt that has helped me deal with anxiety.

  1. Sleep.  If you can try and get whatever the recommended dose is (8 hours) every night. Try and establish a sleeping routine, one that will work for you.  I can not recommend this enough
  2. Take regular breaks at work or study.
  3. Surround yourself with people who are loving, accepting and are positive influences in your life.  For a certain period in my life, I went out with a guy who made it obvious that I was flawed and to be loveable/acceptable to him and his social circle I need to change physically but also personality. When that relationship ended, and I began to rebuild my life again, I found it easier to deal with my anxiety because the friends that I already had continued to be supportive even though I didn’t realise it when I was in said relationship.  Please note mentioned ex was not a horrible guy and was a major instigator in forcing me to get professional help.  It was just easier to finally deal with things when the relationship had finally finished.
  4. Establish regular exercise into your life.  I wish I had switched onto this earlier.  Exercise for your own wellbeing and not to compete with others…..unless you’re that way inclined.
  5. Delay worrying.  When you find yourself worrying about something – tell yourself that you worry about it later.  Quite often the things we worry about the most never actually occur.

Next week I will try write 5 more ways to deal with anxiety. How do you cope with anxiety and stress?

An open letter to Lisa Khoury

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So I guess by now you would have all seen this article.  While I respect her choice of not liking tattoos, like many others I found her article insulting.  I wrote a response to her article which can be found below.  In the mean time, next week I am meeting with my tattoo artist to discuss colour for this baby below.  Exciting!

Dear Lisa Khoury,

It is without doubt that this letter is one among many, that I’m not sure why I am even responding when there are  more eloquent and succinct responses out there.

Tattoos are not a modern invention, they has been around for centuries and if you done your homework, you would find that they hold very significant spiritual and cultural values in many parts of the world. Tattoos have and always be an expression of one’s self and societal status.  For example the Moko tattoo in Maori culture was traditionally seen as a sign of status and now has become a symbol of the revival of the language and culture.

But this isn’t about tattoos, and their histories or your dislike for them. You’re entitled to that opinion.  This is about the harmful message you are broadcasting to those who are still yet impressionable. It is about the reinforcement of outdated ideals that reek in sexism, cultural insensitivity and pure shallowness.

It is about the idea that a women’s purpose, value and worth lies only  in her physical ability to make “heads turn”, “guys drool” and that the notion of class and elegance is derived from this. It is about claiming that activities such as going to the gym, shopping, high heels are symbols of class and elegance but intelligence, self expression, kindness and acceptance of others and confidence are not.  It is about the perception that one’s morals and values is inanely wrapped up in one’s physical appearance and  that those who do not fall  within your perceived societal norm will find themselves struggling to teach any form of moral code.  It is about classifying women as objects and commodities of desire.  It is about inadvertently dismissing those who fall out of the hetreosexual/ cis  female gender realm.

That is my problem with your opinion piece because quite frankly I don’t give two hoots if you like tattoos or not.

yours sincerely,

Rochelle


101 things in 1001 days update

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Remember this?  It looks like I’m suppose to complete a shitload of stuff by August this year. 

Things like….

 

Scuba Diving (image source)

Kayaking at Abel Tasman (image source)

a winery tour?

bake/cook a lot (can’t remember where I found this one)

Write an email in German

Wake up at 6am (what mindframe was I in when I wrote that?)

and a MILLION other things

The good thing is that I have completed a few things on the list.

  • I managed to walk to and from work every day for 3 months, actually longer – rougly a year now.  Okay so it took moving houses and now living a 10 minute walk from work to my house to make this happen. But hey box ticked. 
  • I bought a print at an art store whilst in Japan.
  • Last year I started to read more and managed to read classics like Dorian Gray, 1984, Animal Farm, Pride and Prejudice and Who flew over the Cuckoos Nest.  Okay so these probably should be more classified as popular books?
  • I learnt how to ride a bike. I wish I had a bike in Wellington but it seems to windy for it and cycling on roads – no way!
  • I moved house, oh about 3 times
  • Saw a play, can’t remember what the play was about.

I’ll update you all in another 3 months.