Kind of a crosspost day today. A couple of days ago, I talked about Psychosis. I’ve also talked about LudoSport and the impact it’s made on my mental health.
This time last year, I was approached by a publisher to write a book about my mental health recovery. We’d talked about doing it before the pandemic, because I’d started learning to walk, then run again after a neck injury, that was to me, life altering. And I say ‘to me’ because I only needed a zimmer for a bit, and by our trip a month later to London, I only needed a cane. I needed that cane for nearly a year, on and off, especially when we went to Disney, but I was lucky. No one can tell I had to learn to walk without feeling part of my leg any more (yes, you can do it, no I don’t recommend it, 0/10, do not like).
Recovery for anyone is complex
One of the reasons I’ve refused to talk about recovery, really, is because everyone recovers differently. In my case, I’ve recovered…in a way that sort of worked out fine, but wasn’t optimal. But, as you can probably see, I’d already gained quite a bit of weight before the accident, so, I was trying to find my way back to ‘fitter’. I don’t ‘get’ the endorphin thing that people talk about when they exercise. Or at least, the discomfort I feel has always mostly overrode the instinct to do it, other than, for a while, running. Something that’s obvious from photos of me, I think, is that I have quite long legs. To put it in perspective, as it were, I’ve got 36 inch legs, and I’m 5’4″. Were I the “correct” proportions, I’d be a bit taller, but I’ve got a short body, and long legs, which really confuses people when they actually look at me properly. (no it’s not the jeans I choose, I really have stupidly proportioned legs. Shorts that should look fine on me look indecent, because my legs are too long. I can make gym shorts look like hotpants, and you’d think that’d be a super power. It’s really not). So…with all that in mind, I pitched a book about using running to settle the mind, meditate, and still be mindful of surroundings, and at the time (pre-pandemic), the book was accepted. Then, my son’s kidney stuff happened, and literally the day he got his stent out (I’m deliberately playing it down), the UK was locked down. No running for me, but, by that point I’d already discovered the fatal flaw in my pitch – I didn’t like going as far from the house any more, so I couldn’t talk about running.
Kai finds her bliss, so the book was revisited
In case it’s not clear to everyone how much LudoSport has changed my life, it has. Years of therapy has left me a bit twitchy, sure, but at the same time, it’s also left me with an exquisitely precise knowledge of where my limits are. So when I started geeking out about LudoSport, we revisited the book pitch. I did however resist changing the title to Rin, Girl, Rin. (A rin, and a nir are two types of moves with lightsabers, one in one direction, one in the other). It’s not just about LudoSport, though, now that we’ve started the edits, it does feature quite a bit.
So…that’s the story of Run Girl Run. This will basically be the same post on BooksbyKai.
Kai is a writer, author and avid reader. A mental health advocate, Ludosport athlete and coder. She’s the mother of two young adults, owned by two cats, and lives with her beloved in the Cotswolds.
I’ve been working more lately with either really low ‘focus’ music on in the background (right now, for example I’ve got Endel running in the background. The different modes of music, based on what I’m doing are really nice) or with a true crime show or podcast in the background. It’s been really good to start finding my flow and workspace during the day – what I want to do, what I don’t. I’m shifting into a more creative phase now, so coding isn’t as interesting to me, which means in about three weeks, I’ll be reading and taking lots of notes for my next big project. Right now? I’m enjoying the quiet.
Kai is a writer, author and avid reader. A mental health advocate, Ludosport athlete and coder. She’s the mother of two young adults, owned by two cats, and lives with her beloved in the Cotswolds.
Again, because of the post I was struggling with, this is a late post today. Apologies.
So, I’ve talked a little bit about LudoSport, and, when I get the chance, I’ll get a few photos of myself competing or training, but I wanted to tell you guys a little bit about my blade, Petrichor.
In LudoSport, you get a hilt, and a carbon fiber blade, which lights up (hence lightsaber) to fight with. The carbon fiber blade itself is pretty sturdy, but does break (my Form 1 instructor and dear friend is our blade breaker in the Academy), but isn’t strong enough, in theory to do serious damage.
This time last year, for our anniversary, my partner gave me a new hilt. She was a special edition blade, in a light mist colour, and he even wrapped her for me, in my favorite grip leather. And for the longest time, she was called Ceo (kay-o, or Cee-o, depending on how you pronounce the CE-), which is gaelic for mist. I called her that because she didn’t have a name.
It is, as many people close to us know, the 19th anniversary of us starting to date, and in a few days, just before the end of the AtoZ challenge, we’ll have been handfasted for 17 years. For our 16th anniversary, I booked a hotel stay in a lovely hotel in Cornwall, and we explored the Eden project, and generally, had a great time.
On the first morning, walking down the path into the Eden project, I was struck by the smell of vegetation, of the ferns and other elements unfurling after a damp start to the day. It was intoxicating, and in remembrance of that, I named my blade Petrichor.
Kai is a writer, author and avid reader. A mental health advocate, Ludosport athlete and coder. She’s the mother of two young adults, owned by two cats, and lives with her beloved in the Cotswolds.
This is one of my harder blogposts to write, because though I talk – a lot – about the impact my mental health has on my day to day life, and has done for a while, I’m pretty sure that this is the bit no one really understands, causes the most…misunderstanding and I hope, because I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, they can’t relate to. If you didn’t know that psychosis was a feature of my mental health diagnosis, or didn’t understand if you’d heard it mentioned before now, please…don’t start changing your opinion of me. That’s the biggest reason those of us with serious mental health issues aren’t as open as society needs. Because we lose people.
It was so hard to write in fact, that I didn’t, for a day. So, you’re not imagining it, this post went up a day late.
Sensitive child, with imaginary friends
I wish I could say that I know things would have been different now versus 30+ years ago, when I was growing up, but I’ll add this disclaimer to the beginning of the post. Currently, the mental health crisis, and in fact, the whole NHS service crisis, caused by politicians, is going to result in more young people growing up in various states like I did. My family did their best, and a lot of what I now know to be ‘just not right’ was ascribed to me being a sensitive, empathic child with a high intelligence. While I’m not saying that’s not true, I do feel that the fact that I wasn’t caught as autistic, or having issues with sensory processing, or possibly even ADHD as a child and teen says a lot about how the school system is ill-equipped, in a standard setting, to recognise that intelligence and mental health ‘quirks’ don’t always go hand in hand. I have a very high IQ, but, here I am, at 44, and I basically live a life that is safe for me thanks to my partner. I’m not saying it’s not because I can’t work, because I can and I do, but…I’ve had to build a job around my health, and right now, I’m at a bottleneck and don’t like it.
I grew up on a ‘working class’ estate (in quotes, cause I hate the terminology) in Edinburgh. By the time I sat my Highers, I was really struggling with my mental health, and it was basically ignored by the school. Hindsight being what it is, I was already becoming isolated and a bit insular, but I wasn’t the most popular girl in school, and was in fact bullied for most of my life, and…along with other incidents, the things I took comfort in – everything in my imagination – began to twist.
I’ve always seen and heard things. Always. But as an adult, those things became more violent, and more inward aimed.
Her
I’ve addressed this a few times on Facebook, but…I hear and see one specific person. When I’m having a really bad day, she can distract me enough that she can convince me the house is on fire, or that people are coming for me with knives. But even on my ‘good’ or ‘neutral’ days, she’s there. She’s shouting at me now, for writing this, reminding me that I’m in a house on my own and that I’m on the top floor, and anything could happen. She…she’s always been there. Always. Whether she’s a manifestation of the things I think about myself, or something else is pretty much up for debate, but…I’ve never known a time that I can’t hear and see her. I’ve tried antipsychotics, and they don’t get rid of her, they just dull down the constant anxiety I live with (and hadn’t actually realised wasn’t supposed to be there until I asked after a trial on meds), so I find it easier to maintain a facade of not listening, and not reacting.
It’s hardest in situations where I’m either not in control, or there’s a lot of noise – especially loud noise – and motion around me. Which is why, I think, even my GP is surprised that I like LudoSport so much. And I’ve noticed that my best days are when I’m focussed on Petrichor (other post today, she’s my blade), and just doing what I’m told, rather than trying to keep track of everything and everyone. My BEST days are when I can wall her off for a bit, and do the things I love without fear. Tempus, my other half, supports me in finding those slots, but those days really are few and far between.
The best I can do to manage ‘her’ is to remember mindfulness, breathe, and try to ground myself.
No one knows unless I tell them – or they see me react
I think the most surprising thing about having any type of psychosis, even though it makes perfect sense if you think about it logically, is unless you tell someone, they don’t know. But… I’m going to explain why it’s surprising from, well from my point of view. Maybe others that live with similar (and again, I hope you don’t, it’s horrible, wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy) will agree, but if you live with psychosis for long enough, it’s normal to think that it’s real. If you’re so used to it being real, it’s…surprising that no one realises that you’re reacting to that, not something else. So, I understand why people are surprised when I talk about psychosis in such…steady and measured terms, but I still marvel at the idea that I’m the only one that actually sees her. That no one knows unless I let on.
And that’s the biggest issue with psychosis, after the physical and mental effect it has on those of us with it.
I bet, if you didn’t know about what I deal with, you see me a little differently now. And that’s ok – we always change how we see, and feel and think of people. But…I know that people will always wonder if I’m so unstable that I’ll hurt them – or others. Because that’s how people with a psychosis are portrayed. Whether it’s a component of schizophrenia and those cluster of diseases, or standalone, like mine (well, not really, I have CPTSD, Anxiety and other issues), I know that people see me as the media portrays psychosis.
It’s why I wrote run girl run. That’s a shared ‘R’ on Friday, because that’s my big news this year.
Like any other mental health issue though, instead of believing what pop culture portrays, think about me when you hear ‘psychosis’. If you didn’t know about it before this post, think about what you thought of me back then – I’m sure ‘funny’, ‘intelligent’ and ‘caring’ featured in there somewhere. That’s far more important than my mental health issues, because I still am. It’s important – and stigma breaking – to remember that label just means that I need extra help sometimes, that I’ve got an underlying reason for being a bit nervous of certain things, and that I’m no different from the Kai you knew going into this post.
Kai is a writer, author and avid reader. A mental health advocate, Ludosport athlete and coder. She’s the mother of two young adults, owned by two cats, and lives with her beloved in the Cotswolds.
I’ve got a really cool collection of Oracle and Tarot cards. I use them when writing, when considering what to do next, and just for comfort. Today, I thought I’d share some of my favorite oracle and tarot decks, and why I love them so much. (I bought mine, mostly, from my friendly local gaming store, Etsy, or was gifted them – most of the links to purchases for these are either Etsy, or if I can’t find them there, Amazon, so some might be affiliate links).
This is just a small set of my decks.
How I use them…
I use my tarot decks and oracle decks for everything from asking a question about something I’m struggling with, to using them to plot stories or seek inspiration. I have even generated out random stories to just spread my wings or play.
I love my Oracle decks the best really – the Starseed one often shows me ‘wait’. Until recently anyway.
Pictured – Octopus Tarot (Kickstarter) Elemental power Tarot Supernatural Tarot (I also have a Stranger Things, Diablo, Skyrim deck, and a fairytales deck which is my absolute favorite tarot right now). Urban Oracle Deck – from the creator The enchanted Map Oracle cards And the Starseed Deck, which I got on Etsy from a lovely store. (she doesn’t have that deck any more, but I get ALL of my stones from her that aren’t picked out in person, so if you are looking for lovely stones, check her out! I also have other tarot and oracle sets from her – she always goes above and beyond to ensure everything is perfect!)
What I’m doing going forward
Now that I’ve gotten set up in my own office, I’ll be offering three card oracle and tarot readings with the deck of people’s choice, and I’ll be sharing my oracle and tarot draws on a new page. If you’re interested in seeing the artwork or how I interpret my pulls, please sign up at my Facebook page (it’ll be a blog eventually ;)). And yup, it’s shared with my daughter, Artenapan :). We’re also in the process of designing a tarot tracking book, for all spread types that we use, so that’s fun.
Kai is a writer, author and avid reader. A mental health advocate, Ludosport athlete and coder. She’s the mother of two young adults, owned by two cats, and lives with her beloved in the Cotswolds.
I guess, as I’ve spent the last month planning everything, that I didn’t realise how serendipitous this week would actually work out.
Yesterday, I was lucky enough to spend a few hours just…soaking in the natural beauty in an arboretum called Batsford. Batsford Arboretum is one of those places that I’ve been, again and again, to relax. When I lived in Edinburgh, I wasn’t far from trees, water, nature (Colinton Dell), so when we moved, it was kinda hard for me, because though we still lived on the outskirts of towns, it wasn’t as easy to get to places as it was. I do have my front yard, and back garden now, but it’s been difficult to really get at the pretty, nature based things I love.
Recharge, reset, renew
I use my time in nature as a recharge, a reset and a renewal. I love trees and greenery (I’m lucky too now, that my office has a little space for greenery. I’ve got a bonsai tree and a hydroponic plant above my main writing shelf, and it’s just the best thing in the world to look at. When I’m really struggling too, my partner often takes me into a park or out to a place where I can just spend time surrounded by trees and other stuff. And, we’ve got four ‘go to’ places that we really love around there. Crickely Hill, which is a park nearby, Robinswood Hill, which is also nearby. We also love to go to two local Arboretums – Batsford and Westonbirt. And we spend *a lot* of time there.
So, yesterday, my daughter needed photos for her college work, and I spent the afternoon just…enjoying the blossom trees, and the magnolias. I’ve got some photos, I thought I’d share them today 🙂
First, the magnolia tree we found. It’s not one I’d ever seen before, with the branches growing straight up. It’s gorgeous.
Super slowmo chill
One of the things I’ve taken this time is some super slow videos of the waterfalls too.
What do you think? Peace, quiet, tranquility and a lot to see this spring 🙂
Kai is a writer, author and avid reader. A mental health advocate, Ludosport athlete and coder. She’s the mother of two young adults, owned by two cats, and lives with her beloved in the Cotswolds.
Kai is a writer, author and avid reader. A mental health advocate, Ludosport athlete and coder. She’s the mother of two young adults, owned by two cats, and lives with her beloved in the Cotswolds.
That sounds like so much fun! I love games, especially RPG. Haven't played with a group in a few years.…