YES PLANET FITNESS. (x)(x)

"Queen of Cats" - Freyja, the Norse goddess with her chariot led by cats

This is going to be made into t-shirts, tanks and wall prints this month!

Find indie apparel and accessories (including this design) here from Cat Coven!

Do You Love Someone With Depression?

If you have a partner or are close to someone who struggles with depression, you may not always know how to show them you love them. One day they may seem fine, and the next they are sad, distant and may push you away. It is important that you know that as a person who is close to them and trusted by them, you can help your friend or partner have shorter, less severe bouts of depression. Mental illness is as real as physical illness (it is physical actually, read more about that here) and your partner needs you as much as they would need to be cared for if they had the flu.

Your relationship may seem one-sided during these times, but by helping your partner through a very difficult and painful affliction, you are strengthening your relationship and their mental health in the long term.

1. Help them keep clutter at bay.

When a person begins spiraling into depression, they may feel like they are slowing down while the world around them speeds up. The mail may end up in stacks, dishes can pile up in the sink, laundry may go undone as the depressed person begins to feel more and more overwhelmed by their daily routine and unable to keep up. By giving your partner some extra help sorting mail, washing dishes or using paper plates and keeping chaos in check in general, you’ll be giving them (and yourself) the gift of a calm  environment. (I’m a fan of the minimalist movement because of this, you can read more about that here.)

2. Fix them a healthy meal.

Your partner may do one of two things when they are in a depressed state. They may eat very little, or they may overeat. In either case, they may find that driving through a fast food restaurant or ordering a pizza online is just easier than fixing a meal. Eating like this, or neglecting to eat will only degrade your partner’s health, causing them to go deeper into their depression. Help your loved one keep their body healthy, and their mind will follow. This is a great article that talks about the “Brain Diet” which can help the symptoms of depression, and this article talks about how our modern diet could contribute to the recent rise in depression. Here is a recipe for a trail mix that is quick to make and has mood-boosting properties.

3.Get them outside.

 The benefits of getting outside for a depressed person are huge. And it is possibly the last thing on earth your partner will want to do. Take them to be somewhere in nature. Pack a picnic and lie in the sun, take a leisurely hike or plant a garden. Being barefoot in the dirt, or “earthing” helps ground the body and reverse the effects of living in a world of emf’s, and digging in soil can actually act as an antidepressant, as a strain of bacterium in soil, Mycobacterium vaccae, triggers the release of seratonin, which in turn elevates mood and decreases anxiety. Sunshine increases Vitamin D production which can help alleviate depression. My friend Elizabeth wrote an excellent post about Vitamin D and its link to depression here.  For more information about other sources of Vitamin D, this is a great post as well as this.

4. Ask them to help you understand what they’re feeling.

If your partner is able to articulate what they are going through, it will help them and you better understand what you are dealing with, and may give insight into a plan of action for helping your partner. Also, feeling alone is common for a depressed person and anything that combats that feeling will help alleviate the severity and length of the depression.

5. Encourage them to focus on self-care.

Depressed people often stop taking care of themselves. Showering, getting haircuts, going to the doctor or dentist, it’s all just too hard, and they don’t deserve to be well taken care of anyway in their minds. This can snowball quickly into greater feelings of worthlessness since “Now I’m such a mess, no one could ever love me”. Help your loved one by being proactive. Tell them “I’m going to do the dishes, why don’t you go enjoy a bubble bath?” can give them the permission they won’t give themselves to do something normal, healthy and self-loving.

6. Hug them.

Studies show that a sincere hug that lasts longer than 20 seconds can release feel-good chemicals in the brain and elevate the mood of the giver and receiver. Depressed people often don’t want to be touched, but a sincere hug with no expectation of anything further can give your partner a lift.

7. Laugh with them.

Telling a silly joke, watching a comedy or seeing a stand up comedian will encourage your partner to laugh in spite of themselves. Laughing releases endorphins and studies show can actually counteract symptoms of depression and anxiety.

8. Reassure them that you can handle their feelings.

Your partner may be feeling worthless, angry and even guilty while they are depressed. They may be afraid that they will end up alone because no one will put up with their episodes forever. Reassure them that you are in the relationship for the long haul and they won’t scare you away because they have an illness.

9. Challenge their destructive thoughts.

A depressed person’s mind can be a never-ending loop of painful, destructive thoughts. “I’m unlovable, I’m a failure, I’m ugly, I’m stupid”. Challenge these untruths with the truth. “You’re not unlovable, I love you. You aren’t a failure, here are all the things you’ve accomplished.”

10.Remind them why you love them.

Look at pictures of happy times you’ve had together. Tell them your favorite things about them. Reminisce about your relationship and all the positive things that have happened, and remind your partner that you love them and they will get through this.

(via The Darling Bakers)

Dear "But Hillary would be the first female president" people

You know what Bernie Sanders would be? The first Jewish President. And alongside that (though it goes without saying) the first non-Christian President.

In a country dominated by Christians, run on their values, and where ‘because the bible says so’ is considered a valid political argument, that’s just as important (if not moreso) as a female president. And while its not ever been as prevalent as racism or mysoginy, antisemitism has played a role in American history (and Western history in general), so this would also be a way to push away from that.

Just thought I’d point this out, since no one seems to be talking about it.

I need reblogs. I’m ready to stand up. LGBT announcement

Ok,

So a few of you may know my story but for those who don’t, prepare yourselves. I’m a lesbian, but I prefer the term gay. I came out to my Mom in september, she was quiet and didn’t have much to say. Something went down in January that I never like to repeat, but then being gay came back up. I was in her room, we talked, I told her again and she said she didn’t want to talk about it but I said I did because if not we would never start to talk again. We yelled

Stuff was said

Christianity was brought up

I backed out of my religion, I no longer identify as Christian.

I cried

a lot

I was hurt

She took all of my passwords, has all of my accounts. I can no longer communicate with the trevorprojectawareness over this. I wasn’t able to communicate with certain people for a few months. She made me unfollow people like Tyler Oakley. I can no longer, however, find his tumblr so if anybody knows the official one then please link it on this post.

It was bad, my sexuality was destroying me. Not to mention going through a christian school where if they learned of me, I could be kicked out, wasn’t helping either. At one point right when I moved in with my dad, she sent me some….really upsetting text. She used my sexuality to her advantage, “Well this this this because basically I know about your sexuality and can use it to get away with stuff” She played that card too many times. She believes it’s a choice, always said, “You are not gay! You do not know what it means anyways! You think you’re joining in with the cool kids!”

A lot of hurtful stuff along with that I don’t want to say. It’s been 6 months now and once I’m 18 in September, this will be gone. But at times It feels so far away. Sometimes I don’t even think about it, sometimes I do.

During this period my anxiety started to act up, I would talk to friends then break down having a flashback about what happened. I believe my Mom could hear everything because she tracks my ip, has my passwords, everything.

My anxiety got to a level where I felt paranoid all the time.

Well I’m sure all of us know that supreme court legalized gay marriage in all 50 states Hooray!

I cheered!

I was happy!

Now of course to my christian friends on twitter I voiced my opinion, I explained that today wasn’t a day about just putting a ring on somebody’s finger, it was more than that. It was a victory.

My sexuality isn’t public on twitter, so everything I said was from a non-homophobic, heterosexual view from those who know nothing about me. I woke up today, going through twitter and felt rage because everything I said was deleted. Where somebody quoted me agreeing it said, “tweet no longer available”

And I knew exactly why. She deleted them.

This stuff has gone on for months. Every time I voice my opinion she’ll take it down, my tumblr has not been touched which I don’t know why but, ok, whatever. “Oh, Jordyn, get over it. Just a few tweets, whatever.”

It’s more than that. For the past 6 months I feel I have been gagged and unable to voice my opinion about anything like this. It’s always like, “Sssh, you’re still suppose to be a christian who’s straight and like boys. Shush you don’t know what’s going on.”

And that annoys me. I’m getting angry and want to put my foot down.

If this post gets deleted you know exactly why

So what I’m asking is for you to reblog this post and stand up for me. I will write down each url, screenshot this post, etc. Either on my 18th birthday or when I leave for college I will show her this and how many people (hopefully a lot) who stand up for me.

I’ve been pushed, broken, and hated like any other for my sexuality, I want to take a stand.

tl;dr

gay teen under a lot of restriction for sexuality and what not. Mom involved, unable to voice opinion anymore. Feeling broken, sad, I’m wanting to stand up.

Please, no matter how many times you see this please reblog. I need the help. The lgbtqa+ community is a loving community most of the time who rejoiced together over our victory, now let’s get back together and help each other again.

Both mine and your battle isn’t over yet.

Deer

On a mission by Mark Bridger

Short-eared Owl

They don’t like one another but all want to sleep on the bed. This is the agreement they came to.