Pick a notebook and answer the prompt that goes along with it in the comments below! 📚✏️
📒 Spiral notebook: Write a to-do list for today. What’s at the top of your list?
📓 Composition notebook: A skill I want (or need) to learn is ___________.
📔 Journal notebook: What’s a challenge you’ve been navigating lately?
I choose the journal notebook! 📔
A challenge I’ve been navigating is mentally preparing to adjust to a new therapist. Change can be hard for me, but I’m trying to be kinder to myself as I move through this transition.
Which notebook do you choose today? 💙
Find this post in The Pencil Case on The Mighty here.
Free Write: How are you really?
I haven’t written much in a while, and as someone who needs to write to release, it has affected my health profoundly. With the addition of a job on top of other responsibilities, I’ve reached my capacity for what one person can hold.
I’ve experienced symptoms for much longer than before, and I can’t say I’ve been dealing with them very well. There’s complexity in navigating mental illness as a “high-functioning” person—between what I allow others to see and what they can literally see.
This year, I’ve felt myself revert to a previous version of myself in certain spaces, which has been challenging. The perfectionism, self-abandonment, and sense of loss from pursuing employment (as I once did for education) have been a lot to process and understand about myself.
💌 A message I need from myself today:
My worth is not defined by my productivity, and I don’t have to “perform well” to be seen and appreciated by those around me. I can prioritize myself and still care about the people around me. Putting myself first does not make me a bad person.
My experience with mental illness does not define who I am. I am a whole person deserving of love, acceptance, community, and care.
I am more than what I long for.
I am not difficult to be around, even if I’ve been in a silent crisis. It’s OK for me to need extra support. I am not a burden, even when others don’t know how to help or give me blank stares.
I am existing as a human being. I am enough as I am. My life is worth living. Positive experiences are ahead of me.
💛 Feel free to free-write below about how you’ve been lately.
Find this post in The Pencil Case on The Mighty here.
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