Good things happen on bad days too

[untonuggan]

Today I got up and wanted to post all the rage I'm having about George Zimmerman and anti-abortion legislation and the attempted bombing of a mosque in the West Midlands and just all the reasons why this world we live in is generally SNAFU'd right now. It feels like Sauron is winning and I am pissed off.

Then I remembered the last time I was hospitalized, and how it was right around the Boston Marathon Bombings. And how I had Particularly Dark Timez (TM) around the DC Sniper Shootings. And you know what? I wasn't alone. The holidays aren't the only time mental health facilities fill up. Any time there's been a news event that I have found ~*~!infuriating or triggering beyond my capability to express it!~*~ there have been others in those facilities experiencing the same thing.

Someone even made a painting of Trayvon Martin in art therapy; it was posted on the wall of an inpatient hospital.

If the local can affect the global, so the global can affect the local. What is more local than our own bodies, our own mental health?

Yes it is important to stay engaged, to make a difference in the world. But we need to be fully charged to do so. Therefore, in response to what some are calling "the worst day on the internet", I am dubbing this entry a safe space.

Here is a place to recharge. A virtual "book of happy" for anyone who cares to participate, if you will. Feel free to post inspiring quotes, funny pictures or animated gifs, alllllll the cute animal photos, good songs, whatever. Just please, don't bring the news here. This is a news free zone.

I am currently leaving comments unscreened, but if it becomes a problem then I will turn screening on.

Comments

These quotes usually makes me smile, and are in my book of good things

[untonuggan]

“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child -- our own two eyes. All is a miracle.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh

“We are here to awaken from our illusion of separateness.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh

African American Quilters of Baltimore

[untonuggan]

I really love looking at quilts (possibly because I have trouble cutting out all the pieces myself). Here is a lovely gallery from the African American Quilters of Baltimore, and below is one of my favorites from the gallery:


Asymettrical "crazy quilt" in browns and blacks and reds and yellows and whites with faces, sunflowers, and hands and text that reads "When you find a friend hold on with both hands" two hands reach out to hold the text

Kitty gif

[untonuggan]

Because sometimes we need to express how we feel.



white cat batting things off a counter, text reads "fuck this, fuck that, fuck those too, fuck all these too, fuck this thing in particular" and goes on ad infinitum

[alexseanchai]

From the Tumblr beautifulsouthasianbrides:

LOOK HOW HAPPY SHANNON AND SEEMA ARE.

[inkstone]

[image description: animated gif of a toddler fighting a tiny kaiju]

[automaticdoor]

Something I like to remember on bad days: "This day will never happen again."



(from calmingmanatee.tumblr.com: [Image description: A photograph of a manatee facing the camera. There is sand beneath it, and a small fish off to the left of its face. TEXT: “It might be dark now, but it won’t be forever. No matter how bleak things seem, the sun always comes back."])

[automaticdoor]

by Chloe Ezra, a GIF set of two cats emerging from swirls on canvas. Very calming and pretty.

[automaticdoor]

from calmingmanatee.tumblr.com, Image description: A photograph of a baby manatee, facing the camera, just touching the tail of its mother. TEXT: “Everybody has bad days. Sometimes all of the little things just get to you. It is okay to be overwhelmed sometimes. Take some time to look after yourself. You survived the other bad days. You will survive this one too."

[elf]

THANK YOU FOR THIS.

I'd contributed to the Glitch Soundtrack project on Indiegogo way back when, and recently got the "Glitch Ringtones, Alerts & Sound Effects" collection.

It has a thing. I don't know how to describe it. It's called the "Glitch Sound Thingy-Doer" and it's a pack of sounds and scripty-bits and images, so you not only hear the tinkertool or the random kindness sound, you get to see the animation too.

It opens with the Glitch opening sequence. And, wow, that brings up GOOD memories and throws me into Instant Happyspace, even with all the sadness because it's gone now. Am now trying to decide which sound effect to use for email notifications on my work Blackberry, because I could use a tiny happy-ping when I get new messages.

(I cannot figure out how to share the Glitch opening sequence. I don't have a tumblr and Grooveshark tends to crash my browser.)

[terajk]

I bring General Iroh from Avatar: The Last Airbender drawn in Powerpuff style, by DuckyYepYep:

http://browse.deviantart.com/art/PPG-Iroh-51033739

Music

[anke]

Lutenist Ronn McFarlane plays his own composition "Pinetops".
(In case embedding video doesn't work, it's at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtBA-0GgUG8

[donutsweeper]

In the cute animal photo category, have a picture of a two week old (or so) baby wild rabbit.

Have some YouTube awesomeness

[jjhunter]

Calling to the kittens...

Sesame Street + Yo Yo Ma [= Adorkable YES]

Cups song done right [Amazing singing, amazing choreography - I think I've watched this five times in the last week; delightful]

[staranise]

Thank you so much for this, Liz. This was a really good idea. If anyone needs it, I will 100% defend people who need to take a break from social justice work.

Here is my cat, who spends most of these summer days curled up under a blanket:

Happy street dog

[raze]

Vagabond and Odessa are two street dogs from Alabama that I rescued and am currently patching up before they head up north to a great no-kill rescue. Vagabond looks really happy about this:

[ironed_orchid]

This is for anyone who needs a hug



For more hugs, click here

[eruanna]

These are all so nice! Thanks for sharing. :) Here's a mellow song for you.

Marble Sounds - "Sky High"

[carrie]

Here via staranise, and:



If you'd like a soothing Flash game to calm your nerves, I recommend Loops of Zen. It can be addicting though. ;)

[peoppenheimer]

When the general/political/economic news becomes too much for me to bear, I go looking for breakthroughs in scientific understanding.

Things such as this make me happy.

Anything that increases understanding tends to make me happy.

Protecting our mental health is facilitated by safe spaces such as this one; thanks so much for creating it.

[perfectworry]

Thursday Afternoon - Brian Eno

This is an hour long soundscape/song that's perfect for meditating. I like to listen to it while I clean, or draw, or cook, or write- anything creative that makes me feel better about myself and the world. One of my first graders, who has a difficult time paying attention, told me when I played it during study time that it was a magic song because it helps her focus on her work without feeling angry.

[brigid]

I think this is part of the reason that Sharknado blew up on twitter like it did.

People were just tired and burnt out and angry and stressed and needed to release all that emotion.

So they live tweeted a movie about tornadoes full of sharks and that was a kind of release valve.

[brushwolf]

Here are two fairly newly-discovered species of dinosaurs which I found about because Schleich toys actually makes toy versions;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concavenator
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miragaia_%28dinosaur%29

Here is Jack Horner talking about using histological studies to figure out the actual age relationship between Hell Creek formation dinosaurs;

http://www.ted.com/talks/jack_horner_shape_shifting_dinosaurs.html

And here's an old blog post where someone made a really awesome miniature Muppet Theater to go with his collectable Muppet toys;

http://lancecardinal.blogspot.com/2011/03/scratch-built-palisades-muppet-theatre.html

[infiniteandsmall]

I don't really have much to offer--I wanted to post pictures of my fave ponies at the barn I work at, but I don't have any on my camera. So instead I guess I'm just going to make a list of four songs that have been making me happy and one that's been making me carry on.
Wagon Wheel-Darius Rucker
Closer-Tegan and Sara (the glee cast version's pretty great too)
When I'm Gone (Cups)-Anna Kendrick
Epilogue (mystery track 5)-Emilie Autumn
One Foot In Front of the Other-Emilie Autumn

[jazzyjj]

Hi everyone. Yes indeed, today's political climate is very, very ugly. I have honestly tried to stay away from most news if I can help it. I don't have any pics to post, not even from the fundraiser which I attended on Friday evening. But I suspect those will be going up on the organization's website relatively soon. But speaking of the fundraiser, it was a lot of fun and yes the improvements that were promised did happen. Nothing major, but it all made the evening flow better and it was good. Then on Saturday I attended my nephew's birthday party along with most of my immediate family and had a wonderful time. My sister--a.k.a. nephew's mom--made 2 ice cream cakes that were phenomenal.