BB Social Zone

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Big Blue Table - Right here on the Forums!

replies: 8

Hello to our wonderful forums community! We have decided to run an ongoing Big Blue Table thread ‘Forums Edition’ until the end of October! What is a Big Blue Table? Big Blue Table is Beyond Blue's signature event held during October, Mental Health Month. Big Blue Table encourages people host a meal with their friends, family or colleagues while fighting the stigma that surrounds mental health. So why are we running one here? The reason we are doing this is so people have an opportunity to connect with others and have the experience of sharing their thoughts and feelings over a meal, no matter where they are in Australia. We know Mental Health Month can be a vulnerable time for many and believe this thread could be a safe space for people to be heard and learn from others’ experiences. Our community champions will be here to support you along the way, and our moderation team will be around to answer any questions you may have, as well as to ensure the thread remains respectful and safe for everyone. We encourage you to choose from the following questions to start a conversation: What do you do to look after your mental health? Are you comfortable sharing your feelings and emotions? If not, why? What are you passionate about, and why? Who would be your dream Big Blue Table guest, and why? After you have shared your answers, we would love to hear about what you are eating or bringing to the table. You can even tell us a little bit about your setup and what you can see around you to really immerse us into your world. This is your opportunity to be as creative as you’d like! But remember, there is no pressure or ‘right’ response, whatever you bring to the table will be more than enough. We hope this thread allows you to feel connected, supported, and a part of the Big Blue Table initiative. Now… get cooking!

Welcome to the BB Social Zone - guidelines for posting in this section

replies: 0

Hi everyone, This section of the forum is a little different to the others, as you may have noticed in looking around the threads. Elsewhere on the forums, we discuss some pretty heavy topics: mental health issues, thoughts of suicide, trauma, abuse, relationship breakdowns. Here is the place to come to get away from that and have a bit of fun. Distraction can be an important tool to draw on if you're finding yourself overwhelmed by distressing thoughts and feelings. As this is a section for respite from difficult topics, we will remove posts made in this section that attempt to discuss personal issues. Please use a support thread in the appropriate section for these discussions. Happy posting!

The BB cafe

replies: 20591

The BB cafe is open for business! Welcome all to a new chill and chat place for everyone on the forum. The BB cafe is whatever you want it to be. There are comfy sofas, tables and chairs, coffee machines, a kitchen stocked with everything. There's a pool outside, a bbq area, an annexe with comfy beds for a quiet sleep, tv, dvd, books and whatever else you would like to have here. Most of all, it's a place to meet friends and fellow travellers for a bit of company. Talk over problems, tell jokes, share your day, escape into a world of your making. Grab a coffee and pull up a chair ... So, with a nod to the wonderful Carole King (Hard Rock Cafe) ... Now if you're feeling just a little bit lonely Don't sit at home just mopin' Come on down to where the friendship flows freely You know the door is always open At the BB cafe Come to the BB cafe They will help keep your blues at bay At the BB cafe Important Message from ModSupport: The main intention of the BB Cafe is to encourage light conversation. Please look after your fellow community members by nuturing the BB Cafe as a place to escape some of the more pressing issues in life and save those conversations for personal threads.

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A moral dilemma

replies: 3

This is a problem I have, unless the majority have and I don't. I'll explain. Say, you own a vintage car. Your situation is that your restored it prior to retiring early and going on a disability pension. Its you and your wife's hobby to drive every so often on a club run to a café or a camping group. This 'luxury' has costs, registration, repairs, insurance. You own a modest home with a small mortgage. Another vintage car owner heads off alone for a trip to inland Australia. They hit a kangaroo and their car is a write off. Both the owner and his girlfriend are severely injured but will make a full recovery. They are in their early 70's. 7 years ago the owner heavily modified his car and needed an engineers certificate from an approved engineer to hand into the Govt authority so registration changes could be made and the car legally be able to be driven on the roads. But this inconvenience was not pursued. Instead the owner said to others "I'll take my chances". Subsequently no comprehensive insurance was obtained either. And in the event of an accident no TAC health cover is likely available. The owner post accident needed an air ambulance from the country to the city. So loss of the uninsured vehicle, health costs, ambulance costs - we are talking serious money. The owner owns outright a home in inner city worth around 1.5 million dollars. The car club immediately commences a "pass the hat around" fund drive so the owner can cover costs including repairing/replacing his vehicle. In anger I reply to the Facebook site, first I express hope that they recover. Then I express to others why I do not believe it is right that such fund be commenced on the moral of the above. That he could sell his home and buy his own new vintage car moral by moving out of the city a couple of suburbs. That some on pensions had to acquire such certificates at great cost and insurance on vintage cars was expensive. The owner had taken the risk and dropped his own responsibilities. There were two types of member of the club. Those that agreed with me (in the minority) and those that didn't care the issues and just wanted to collect money. The latter believes that the like of myself to be lacking compassion. My reply to that is that it isn't about compassion. Such a dilemma has had some fallout causing me some depression and anger. Similar situations are when houses are burned in bushfires. Being torn as to what is right can be confusing. Tony WK

Mother's Day 2015

replies: 102

Hi everyone. Mother's Day can mean so many things to different people. I am wondering how you all think about Mother's Day? Do you have a close relationship with your Mum, Nana, Grandma, Mother in law, Aunty or a lady in your life who is like a Mother to you? If you are a Mum, how do you feel about that role in your life? If you have never been a Mum due to choice or circumstances, how does that make you feel? For me, Mother's Day can be a sad and lonely time, and at the same time I can celebrate with my Mum and my Mother in law. Am I a Mum? Yes and no. I have been pregnant 5 times but have no live children. I have a Mum whom I try so hard to love and care for but who also has mental health issues so the relationship is often strained and hard to live with at times. It seems often that Mum is not aware of how much pain she causes people. But she is still my Mum. So are you looking forward to Mother's Day or are you dreading it? If it is the latter, then try to come up with things you can do now to ensure you do not feel too much sadness, regret, misery and pain on Mother's Day. We will be catching up with my Mother in law this year and I will phone my Mum as she lives too far away for me to visit unless I stay over night. I will be thinking of my babies with lots of love and may mark the day with flowers for myself, or I may light some candles. I will leave this for now and see what replies I receive. Cheerio for now, from Mrs. Dools, Lauren

--->>> Practical Application: Gratitude <<<---

replies: 3

Hi there! I'm Jedi. I am all about the practical application. When we take time out of the day to practice gratitude...it gives us back the power!Yes - thats sounds dramatic but a steady dose of gratitude has been shown by numerous studies done by really smart peeps at Uni, and practices done by deeply awesome Gurus --- that have known about this shizz for ages --- theyve all come to the same conclusion that gratitude can dramatically change one's feelings about the life that they are living. From encouraging consistent positive feelings to a profound sense of life purpose, life meaning and life bliss, being a more thankful person is some good juju!!!. And, it can be applied in very practical ways... Thats just magical. And, the practical application is simple. This thread is but one way to bring about more to be grateful and thankful for, and an easy way for us to share our appreciation for all the good stuff that we have, can do and can be, plus its a place to safely share all the lessons of growth from the tougher times in life...ahhh Hakuna Matata!!! Many folk have been harping on about this gratitude stuff for ages...and rightfully so, Gratitude is a sensation. Just join in with this thread Whenever you remember Read thru everyone elses and smile and stuff Be kind Write down about 5 things in your life that you are grateful for right now You dont have to justify why you maybe feeling grateful for something, but if you feel that you want to share the story of why you are so grateful for it...go for it! Please share away - just remember we get 2500 characters. Below is my 5 for 03/08/15 1 - I am grateful that my dog and I have a place to call home. We have been homeless for the last 7 months. We are grateful that a friend has allowed us to pitch a large 10pers tent in their backyard...its like we're camping everyday. Fun!!! 2 - I am grateful for my adventurous spirit...life isnt always sunshine and lollipops but with an adventurous spirit one can always turn the most mundane moment into a totally radical experience. 3 - I am grateful for rice cookers. Did you know that you can cook stews and stuff in these babies? Not just rice man!!! Im in love with my rice cooker. 4 - I am thankful for the part time job I have...the income right now is a blessing and I am thankful for the goals I have to succeed. 5 - I appreciate every home I have ever had in my life p.s You can stay anon if that suits you...its about the gratitude J

bad jokes

replies: 2

knock knock who's there? interrupting cow interrupting MOO! cow who someone told me you sound like an owl. Who? haha

Anyone got gemstones?

replies: 8

I went out over the weekend and bought some (had no idea what they were until I found them in the shop) Unfortunately I can't post pics But heres what I got (you might just have to look them up on the internet for pictures) ROSE QUARTZ: Carries an energy of compassion and peace, tenderness and healing, comfort and nourishment. "A crystal of unconditional love". UNAKITE OR EPIDOTE:Brings peaceful sleep and stress releif. It is said to lift your spirits when you are feeling down and to help you see the beauty in life. Also used to uncover deception and help the healing of seperation or abandonment issues. DALMATION JASPER: Allowing you to move forward in life with stone creates joy and aids you to breakdown barriers that you have created as protection around yourself. May also relieve the need to take revenge on anyone you feel as done you wrong. JASPER"The nurturing stone" Jasper is primarily about peace and relaxation and gentleness. It aids the ability to relax and come to peace even in difficult situations. This helps bring in wholeness, healing emotionally, kindness, and comfort. DUMORTIERITE "A stone of order" said to good for organisation, peace and self discipline. Dumortierite is said to calm and focus you in traumatic situations giving you the tools to cope with a crisis and helps mental capacities in overcoming tough situations. In healing this stone is thought to be of benefit for things such as headaches and nausea. Placed gently on an affected area it is said to soothe sunburn (how cool is that?!) Anyone else got gemstones? What have you got?

Project Runway All Stars - Fans - who do you think will win? Season ends next two weeks!

replies: 0

Do you love this season of Project Runway All Stars? If you are a fan like me who do you want to win this season and why? My pick is Dmitry. I saw him on the other season of Project Runway and was very disappointed when he didn't win as I think he is... View more

don't really know where to post this so will just post it here..

replies: 7

some of you will probably already know from the other threads on here but for those that don't know. i'm 20, gay, unemployed, have depression and anxiety about some things... i live in a house with 6 other people (my friend her bf her brother sister mother and step father) im the only one in the house unemployed (obviously besides the two kids) so while everyones at work ill clean the kitchen and if the rest of the house needs tidying ill do that as well, something was mentioned the other day about a couple things that needed to be cleaned that arent on anyones normal cleaning list and since then all i do is sit here and notice things that need cleaning and am going to try and do it all during the week as its actually doing my head in now so far ive noticed the ceiling fans are dusty, glass doors need cleaning as we need to put our hands on it to open it, some of the vertical blinds have fallen off and been creased etc so am now going to clean all of them iron the ones that are creased (yes i know to put a towel over them to iron them) and put them all back on properly, i want to sugar soap the walls, clean all cobwebs off the veranda roof clean the top of the air con unit as its dusty, sort out the tupperware cupboard, sort out the pantry, basically i want to scrub the house from top to bottom, im not sure why all of a sudden everything is bothering me just because someone mentioned one thing that needed cleaning (i forget what it was but i know it is something thats on my list) has anyone else had this issue where they all of a sudden wanted EVERYTHING spotless or is it just me? like i am planning on doing more than for an inspection so its just a bit weird to me lol, considering i never used to clean anything at all hahah anyways im not quite sure what the point of this post is but someone might know why my mind has all of a sudden become clean freak hahah

And now for something completely different..............

replies: 39

This thread is designed for people that are lonely, or bored, or just want to exercise their mind a bit. It only has three rules. It is not a place to discuss our issues (everywhere else on the site is for that!), it is not for people to use their own situation as an example - if you want to make a point, be objective and, it is not personal, so just respect everyone's point of view and let's play a bit of Devil's Advocate along the way. I'll kick it off. If we accept the Darwinism and the Big Bang theory, everything originated from an explosion of all known matter in the universe from an unimaginably hot ball. If everything was made of inanimate particles; How was life created? Kind regards, John.

Happy Easter

replies: 6

Just wanting to wish everyone at BB a Happy Easter. Shenlee

In hospital geoff

replies: 79

Geoff in hospital trying to use my iPhone and login if and getting to BB is atrocious for me and even whatI type isn't correct so I am going to this phone away when I get out and CHirstopher hope I spelt it correct I a. Going to.be disappointed if I miss the bus in my area as I'm not even sure I will be of here. I. have tried the enlarger the screen but that's useless to me so all up I'm sore and frustrated and missing the site bugger it Geoff

Big Blue Table - Right here on the Forums! replies: 8

Welcome to the BB Social Zone - guidelines for posting in this section replies: 0

The BB cafe replies: 20591

A moral dilemma replies: 3

Mother's Day 2015 replies: 102

--->>> Practical Application: Gratitude <<<--- replies: 3

bad jokes replies: 2

Anyone got gemstones? replies: 8

Project Runway All Stars - Fans - who do you think will win? Season ends next two weeks! replies: 0

don't really know where to post this so will just post it here.. replies: 7

And now for something completely different.............. replies: 39

Happy Easter replies: 6

In hospital geoff replies: 79