writing – SparklyWarTanks

Dear Nina,
Even with the struggle and layers that come with you, I love you.
Even with sickness and daily challenges, I love you.
Every morning, I love you.
When you lay your head to rest, I love you.
When you don’t have energy, I love you.
When you don’t feel accomplished, I love you.
When you doubt your worth, I love you.
When you can’t look at yourself in the mirror, I love you.
In your frustration, I love you.
When you think no one cares, I love you.
When you think no one will fully accept you, I love you.
When your mind is being mean and destructive, I love you.
When you think you are unworthy of love, I still love you.
Even when the thought of love is hard for you, I will always love you.
No matter what is stopping you from loving you, I AM the part of you that will always love you.

-SparklyWarTanks

Creative Writing, Keep Moving: Motivation and Inspiration, Mental Health, Potential and Worth, Power, Reflection, Self-Care, Self-Talk, The Mighty, The Pencil Case on The Mighty

Pencil Case Prompts: Reflection

Posted on May 27, 2020May 27, 2020 by SparklyWarTanks

Setting and following through with goals can be tiring, time-consuming, and requires dedication. Deciding why a goal is important can help to navigate the likelihood of you following through with accomplishing what you want to do.

Activity

Why is setting goals important to you?
-Why is setting goals important?
-What value do goals have in helping you get where you want to go?

My Reflection

Goals are important to me because they help me to stay grounded and focused. Without a focal point to channel my overactive imagination, I typically sleep or dwell on wanting to do more without knowing how. Goals help me to feel a sense of purpose and accomplishment.

Join this prompt’s conversation here on The Mighty.

Write a thank you letter to the biggest lesson you’ve learned this year.

The letter can be written to a person, place, thing, or idea and can be written as creativity as possible. It can rhyme and mimic a poem, or simply be a list of things you’ve learned. The letter can be about a lesson you’re still learning or have learned earlier this year.

Questions to get you thinking:
-What is the lesson?
-Why is the lesson important to you?
-What has the lesson taught you about yourself?
-Has the lesson changed your perspective in any way?
-What does self-care and self-reflection look like after learning this lesson?

The goal of this letter is to reflect and move forward in grace as you progress further into this year.

My Reflection

Dear Change and Transformation,

Thank you for allowing me to see everything that is me. From the sensitivities to the pain that binds me. I am more than I ever thought I can be, and that is creating something huge inside of me.

I thought I was nothing and constantly needed validation. But, I’m learning to be still and take one moment at a time.

I am important, too. And that’s big coming from me. I don’t have to fix everything to be seen.

I can smile and be happy.
I can manifest abundance.
I am beautiful.
I am not too different or unworthy.
I can be loved, too.

The more space I make within myself to manifest the thoughts that can shape a better tomorrow, I welcome. I welcome peace and acceptance.

These are all from you Change and Transformation, so thank you.

-Nina/SparklyWarTanks

Join this prompt’s conversation here on The Mighty.

**Feel free to participate and share in the comment section below!

Keep Moving: Motivation and Inspiration, Mental Health, Potential and Worth, Power, Reflection, Self-Care, Self-Talk, The Mighty, The Pencil Case on The Mighty

Pencil Case Prompts!

Posted on April 28, 2020May 22, 2020 by SparklyWarTanks

One of the many exiting additions for my group, The Pencil Case, on The Mighty, is Pencil Case Prompts.
The goal of these prompts will be to to think, reflect, contemplate and share.

I will be sharing these prompts here on SparklyWarTanks with a link to the post on The Mighty!

Note: Pencil Case prompts are journaling prompts you can use for personal journaling or to answer in the comments for The Pencil Case Prompts posts. The prompt will always have two follow up question: What and Why to help us turn our thinking caps on!

Prompt 1

One thing that helps me to keep going is to remember random moments where I felt good. Some of those moments are moments where I accomplished/achieveved something and felt proud of myself or recalling my talents and things only I can do the way I do it.

Activity

What is an accomplishment, achievement or talent you are proud of?

What is the accomplishment, achievement, or talent?
Why is it important to you?

Note: There is nothing too big or too small to mention as an accomplishment, achievement, or talent.

Reflection

I know I mention this ALL THE TIME but I’m so proud of myself for 1. starting my brand and 2. expanding my brand to Motivation by SparklyWarTanks.
There was a point in my life where I didn’t think I would be anything or do anything worth mentioning. Being able to continuously work on something helps me in my darkest loneliest moments to remind myself that I CAN do what I SAY I can do.

Join this prompt’s conversation on The Mighty here.

Confessions, Keep Moving: Motivation and Inspiration, Love, Mental Health, Potential and Worth, Power, Reflection, Self-Care, Self-Talk, What Just Happened: Personal Anecdotes

Life Lessons: What I Wish I Knew as a Child that I Know Now

Posted on February 8, 2020February 8, 2020 by SparklyWarTanks

Dear Nina,

It’s been a really rough 2020 already. It’s tried to knock you down, step on you, and declare your defeat. What 2020 doesn’t know is you already declared that no matter what, you will figure out how to bounce back EVERY SINGLE TIME. No matter how complicated or complex the struggle, nothing will overcome your resilience.

I know you’re hurting but I also know you learned so much through the pain you endured.

You learned that:

It’s okay to be sensitive.
It’s okay to cry and express emotions.
Learn early how to love and accept yourself.
You are different and that fact will catalyst your passion.
People will look out for themselves.
Put yourself first because no one else will.
You are not like everyone, your self-care looks different.
You don’t need to be with someone to be whole.
Your empathy is powerful, build it up.
You have a soft and gentle spirit, protect yourself, learn how to say no.
Your mind will tell you a lot of lies, declare your power and control over yourself.
People have their own trauma and will show it through their behavior, do not take it personal.
Self-awareness is scary but necessary.
Your mind is very very powerful, use it to create and influence change.
Your purpose is beyond what you can fathom, manifest it with all of your being.
Depression and anxiety will not defeat you.

It’s taken some time to learn these lessons, and probably would have been helpful growing up, but you know now and that’s what’s important. You know that your life is valuable although you may feel tortured sometimes. Keep that smile on your face because its beyond beautiful.

Despite the pain, the tears, and the loneliness, you have a job to do. Get up and keep going.

With love and power, SparklyWarTanks

Everyday Mental Wellness, Keep Moving: Motivation and Inspiration, Love, Mental Health, Other Publications, Potential and Worth, Power, Self-Care, Self-Talk

Everyday Mental Wellness Building a Brand: Creative Self-Care and Writing to Heal

Posted on January 21, 2020April 22, 2020 by SparklyWarTanks

“Writing and creative expression not only helps me build a new perspective on growth, vulnerability, and self-awareness but also helps me manage my depressive and anxious symptoms as well. The more I write and ask myself important questions, the more I’m able to identify my triggers and heal through them.”

Read full article here:

Building a Brand: Creative Self-Care and Writing to Heal

Confessions, Keep Moving: Motivation and Inspiration, Love, Mental Health, Potential and Worth, Power, Reflection, Self-Care, Self-Talk, What Just Happened: Personal Anecdotes

Therapy Takeaways: Reclaiming Self-Love Through Passion

Posted on December 12, 2019December 14, 2019 by SparklyWarTanks

A collage depiction of what self-love looks like inside of me, traveling through my veins.

Going Back to Therapy

For the last month and a half or so I’ve been seeing a therapist for the first time since that one semester in my senior year of college. Although it’s difficult to manage all the emotions that come up as I talk through all of “my stuff”, I’m continuing to come in contact with the parts of me that were previously tucked deeply away. The more I talk and navigate my experiences, the more I’m able to identify the parts of me that need healing.

In these few weeks I learned three big things about my personality, habits, and tendencies:

1. I’m a highly sensitive person and a hopeless romantic.

2. I have issues with feeling good enough and loving myself in the same intensity that I love others.

3. I’m a recovering perfectionist and still struggle with “doing” too much to feel seen. I try to “stay busy” in order to distract myself from feelings unlovable, worthless, and enough. I crave outside stimuli to try to fill a void inside.

The Creative Cure

As I’m learning about what it means to be me, the good and the bad, I found that creativity and writing are my most helpful tools for feeling better.

Because I’m aware of my perfectionism, I’m trying to reverse and redirect the energies I put in “doing”, “pleasing” and “overexerting” back into myself. As I practice what feeds my passion, I’m beginning to realize what love means for me. The more I see what love is for me, the more I can pour back into myself the void of practicing and feeling self-love.

Passion and Learning Self-love

Passion is the manifestation of self-love — It’s love in doing. Passion is one of the only feelings (along with ambition, for example) that can not be given to someone else. To feel passion is to come in contact with something in yourself that feeds your needs and fuels your purpose.

When I create, write, and tell my story I feel passion. Doing what I feel passion for allows me to access peace and satisfaction perfectionism never can.

As I move closer to reclaiming my self-love, allowing it to travel to all parts of me (including my perspective of myself), I will use writing and creativity to help heal me of my self-love wound.

Some Advice

Find your passion. Find what helps you feel good and accomplished. Learn about yourself and learn what love means to you. Feel and access the energy of love. Once you’ve found the peace that comes with love, you can practice love for yourself and with others.

Self-care with unbreakable self-love is powerful and can help you build a healthier you.

See this collage on my Mighty page.

Keep Moving: Motivation and Inspiration, Notes, Other Accomplishments, Potential and Worth, Power, Self-Care, Self-Talk, The Mighty

Mighty Notes Series Note 37: #CheckInWithMe

Posted on August 8, 2019September 25, 2019 by SparklyWarTanks

July was an exciting month for me! Following becoming a community leader on The Mighty, I had the privilege of hosting my own #CheckInWithMe three-part Notes Series!

My series included an intro (which was sent out in the #CheckInWithMe Newsletter via email) as well as a post on my Mighty Page.

Below is a sneak peek of the three parts.

**You are always welcomed to join the conversation and write a note!

Part 1

Portion of intro

…Whether I’m on the go or sitting on my bed with a million thoughts, checking in with myself is the most productive way I’ve learned to stop, think and reflect. In doing so, I’m able to pinpoint how I’m feeling as well as possible reasons and next steps I can take to feel better. Writing is the main tool I use to make all of my thoughts more tangible — it allows me to vent and get everything out.

Starting can be the most difficult task when writing, but not to worry! I’m sharing some writing prompts above so you can #CheckInWithMe if you have a hard time checking in with yourself.

Here is a list of writing prompts you can use to kick-start your checking in process:

This *insert event* made me feel…
Today’s mental health goals are…
These are the reasons why I’m proud of myself:…
I’ve been thinking a lot about…
I’m feeling *insert emotion* today…
I want to…
I hope…
I love…
I will…

Link to my Mighty Post for part 1 here.

Part 2 (Introducing Notes)

Portion of Intro

Aside from writing on The Mighty, I also enjoy creating small writing projects to stay focused on my goals. This helps me stay positive and keep track of my mental health. One habit I’ve picked up in my blogging/writing journey is to write a note, message or thought on my blog when I’m feeling down, curious, angry, anxious or accomplished. Keeping up with this habit has allowed me to build self-awareness and remain in touch with my inner thoughts while staying positive.

Whether it’s on a phone app, post-it note, dry-erase board or in a journal, today I challenge you to write a note too. It can be long or short, a simple thought or even a goal. The idea is to write down ideas and thoughts that motivate you to keep going. The note might even help you to write something more extensive in the future!

In your note you can write:

Affirmations
Declarations
An encouraging thought
Reminders to keep going
Lists of mental health goals and milestones

To get started you can ask yourself how you are feeling, what you want to accomplish, why you are having recurring thoughts about a specific subject, next steps to a goal, or encouraging words you would like to be reminded of.

Link to my Mighty post for part 2 here.

Part 3

**Mighty post and intro are the same.

Mighty post

Title: Keep Checking in With Yourself. Keep Writing Notes.

It’s okay to not feel okay today or any other day. Although some days are more difficult than others check in with yourself and write, be creative. Writing notes has saved me from feeling trapped and voiceless and can help you too. Write a note to remind yourself that you can get through whatever you are going through.

Thank you to everyone who shared and commented last week or this week. You are brave and amazing.

Remember that you are filled with purpose and worth. Your power is immense and you can achieve all that you believe you can. Your voice and story are important. There is only one of you and your voice is one of a kind.

Keep writing notes!

You can find this post on The Mighty here!

Writing notes has been a part of my Sparkly experience for about 2 years. I’m excited to share the impact of writing and how it can help you too!

The more I heal and become who I want to be, the more excited I am to share what helped me get where I am.

Confessions, Keep Moving: Motivation and Inspiration, Making Sense Analysis, Mental Health, Potential and Worth, Power, Reflection, Self-Care, Self-Talk

Why I Claim my Anxiety and Depression

Posted on December 15, 2018December 15, 2018 by SparklyWarTanks

Mental Illness and Religion

Depression

I struggled with depression for a lot of my teenage years unknowingly; falling into silent spells or isolation cycles were “normal” ways I would deal with how I felt. Because of this, depression remained regular. The pain was me.

When I thought about depression or sadness my mind would drift off to what my former pastors would suggest— praying, fasting, and going to church healed all wombs. I often heard, “mental illness was a weakness, ‘the devil’ is consuming your thoughts to keep you from what God has for you. The only way I could be better was to do what God wants me to do. If you’re continuously doing bad, then it’s your fault. You are not trying hard enough. Do not ever claim depression on your life. Don’t say that out loud! If you say it you are manifesting that demon on yourself.” Frightening, right?

Because of those words, I grew up scared of myself, my thoughts, and God punishing me. I felt relief in my good days but tormented on my bad. Maybe if I tried to be “as holy” as I could then maybe I would feel better. The day never came where just praying and fasting relieved my depressive thoughts though.

Here Comes Anxiety…

When first faced with crippling anxiety, I felt ashamed, embarrassed, and discouraged. I isolated myself and talked to no one about my struggles. It wasn’t real. I tried to push harder even when I felt exhausted. Self-care, mental health, or anxiety weren’t words or phrases I knew much about anyway. I just had to pray, right? My relationship with God is not strong enough. I kept pushing myself well past my physical and mental limits until I couldn’t anymore. The more I dismissed my symptoms and repressed my feelings, the more I felt powerless, hopeless, and weak.

Moving Forward

Writing Therapy

In order to feel better, I challenged myself to think deeper. What do I do to move forward? As I constantly struggled to find peace in my mental turmoil, I looked to my writing and voice for refuge. The day I felt most empowered, most liberated, and most peace fell on one day, the day I uttered the words “I have depression and struggle with anxiety.”

While I long left the church because I wanted to find myself aside from religious indoctrination, I started writing, and the words I typed and wrote freed me from my thoughts. Thoughts became tangible. Words became ideas I could look at. I manipulated those words to something positive and uplifting. I began reflecting on and discussing what mental health meant for me, asking critical questions combining my pain with creativity. Excitement filled me again.

Final Thoughts

My projects now bring me to life, they are my medicine. The words I utter, the words I write are my power. I am new, I feel refreshed. I wage war on my mental health struggles, expectations, and stereotypes that bind me and my progress (hence why my writing space/blog is SparklyWarTanks).

Even though I still struggle, I continue to write and think of new and creative ways to express myself. I’m currently planning and hosting events too! There is power in words, whether it’s saying them, writing them, or thinking them.

Claiming my anxiety and depression was not a downfall manifesting struggle and doom to my life, claiming anxiety and depression gave me the power that helped me to liberate my perspective, relieve my mind, and continue on in the progression of becoming myself.

Creative Writing, Keep Moving: Motivation and Inspiration, Self-Care, Self-Talk, SkillShare

I’m a Teacher on Skillshare!

Posted on August 1, 2018September 17, 2018 by SparklyWarTanks

In the past month I’ve been working hard on my first Skillshare class on becoming a creative and expressive writer!

The link below will take you to my class! You can also access this class and my future classes on the tab at the top of this blog.

Link: The Power of “l”: Learn to Write your Life, Instantly Find your Voice, and Creatively Express your Mind Daily