Staying/Getting/Doing Well – Moving goalposts or fixed target?

[Paw Prints]

Hi, this is my first post, though I have been reading the forums for some weeks. I’m probably expressing myself badly when I say that I have found reading about other people’s journeys reassuring. Finding a community of people who “get it” even when they have a wide variety of experiences and lives lived is not something I thought I would ever find.

Though people talk about getting well & there is a section Staying Well, I’m curious as to what this actually means to other people and how they manage their expectations. I noticed some people refer to being well as ‘being like themselves before they got ill’, whilst others don’t express an exact aim.

My idea of being well has changed over the years. I was first diagnosed as an 8 year old child back in the late sixties. The doctors told Mum that the voices in my head & the sudden crying bouts were because I suffered from ‘nerves’ & I was given meds to calm me. Of course such things were not discussed back then & I was told not to talk about it to anyone, not my school friends nor siblings, just Mum. For decades after my idea of being well simply meant being able to hide my illness from others.

A number of events in my life caused my illness to worsen, until some years ago I became so ill I needed to be hospitalised for my own safety. This lead to my current diagnosis of Major Depression, Anxiety & PTSD. I’m no longer in that dark place, but each day is still a battle (though I can now believe in a future). For now only my siblings & one friend know about my illness, though some things they still don’t know.
So, what does ‘being well’ mean to me, it is ever moving goalposts. If you had asked me 5 years ago would I be as well as I am now I would have thought it impossible as I couldn’t envision a future. If you had asked me last week (during one of my down periods) I would have said my progress was all an illusion & I was fooling myself that things can get better.
For now my idea of being well is being able to believe that things can change for the better, that I will one day be able to manage the everyday things like housework, caring for myself & caring for my dog & maybe, just maybe I will even be able to enjoy myself.

Paw Prints
**I took the tip to give myself time to write my post by writing on a word doc & then paste it.

[Croix]

Dear ER and Paws~

Chest infections are a right pain, I hope it clears up tout de suite and leave you in peace to eat your cold and damp chicken and vegetable soup -an unusual repast.

I see nothing humorous in some whales wanting to hide in my small country town, though  many may be media darlings performing in front of tourists, others might be shy and retiring (a bit like walruses) -so what could be  a better pace than a small inland country town? Nobody would suspect. (I'll have to tell that one to tuck in its tail)

Admittedly Sumo Cat started to show an unhealthy interest when the first arrived - that is until I told him whales are not fish, at which point he turned tail and left.

Croix

[Eagle Ray]

Hello Croix and Paws,

Croix, I meant the weather was cold and damp, not my soup 😂 Though I think you knew that and were just teasing me 🤭 My soup was nice and warm, thanks to the microwave.

You mentioning whales lurking in your country town has just made me think of the Kitten King episode of The Goodies where Twinkles the giant kitten is on the loose in London. I am now envisaging something similar with a whale in the city who with a swish of the tail is accidentally knocking things over left, right and centre. “Whoops, there goes another lamp post. Oh dear, another squashed car”.

I wonder if you have any giant marine mammals lurking in your neck of the woods Paws? I had a cousin who convinced me when I was small that some large depressions in the sand were bunyip footprints. It made quite an impression on me.

I will go to bed now thinking of humorous, bumbling animals outside their usual habitat 🙂

[Eagle Ray]

P.S. That was meant to say Kitten Kong, not Kitten King.

[Paw Prints]

Hello ER & Croix,

ER I will keep everything crossed that the antibiotics knock your chest infection out very soon.  Do rest up.  

Poor Sumo cat getting his hopes up on seeing the whales.  Though on consideration he was probably pleased as he would want to keep his svelte figure & whales are mostly blubber.

There are no mysterious critters lurking in the woods here.  I do remember going camping in my late teens with friends & an overseas cousin of one of the friends.  We managed to convince the overseas lad that Drop Bears were a real thing.  It couldn't be done these days as the internet would give the game away.

ER your talking about a whales tail hitting things seems almost prophetic, given the news had a report of a poor fisherman getting hit in face by a whales tail.

It has turned chilly so I've just put the heater on & am about to have some tinned pea & ham soup with toast for tea.

Hugs

Paws

[Croix]

Tru, and it was the Post Office tower that was collapsing from her weight before Twinkles was reduced back to normal size..

-C

[Eagle Ray]

Hello Paws and Croix,

Paws, I remember a YouTube video that was going around a few years ago where some Australian guys convinced a Scottish reporter that Drop Bears were a related cousin of the koala. They put her in all this armouring protective gear to hold what she thought was going to be a drop bear but was obviously a koala, after telling her all these scary stories about the drop bear. They really had her hook, line and sinker until she finally guessed and said, "You're kidding me!".

When I mentioned the whale knocking things over I had forgotten about the recent news item about the fisherman hit by the whale tail. What a thing to happen! Fortunately it sounds like he was not too seriously injured, but still not fun being knocked unconscious and having to go to hospital.

Yesterday I watched the Melbourne episode of The Secret Life of Urban Birds on iview. I really enjoyed that one too. It was wonderful they saw the Orange Bellied Parrots that are so extremely rare.

I hope you are both warm. I imagine you may be by the fire with Mrs C and Sumo, Croix. Paws, the pea and ham soup sounded like a nice winter dinner to have last night. We actually had some sun here today and I went to a nice coastal bay late this afternoon. It's a bit chilly now though.

Wishing you both and everyone a lovely evening.

Hugs,

ER

[Croix]

Dear Paws and ER~

I'm glad your respective soups were up to par, I did have my doubts for a while there.

Yes sitting in front of the fire in my Alistair Cookie chair, with Sumo supervising, your tale of drop-bears reminded me of a most successful April 1st hoax played by the very stuffy and reputable BBC current affairs program  'Panorama' in 1957.

It purported to show a bumper European spaghetti harvest following exceptionally good weather, wiht actual film of spaghetti being harvested from spaghetti trees.

Apparently many people took this seriously and inundated the BBC wiht inquiries how to grow their own spaghetti trees.

If you search YouTube you will find the original broadcast (in glowing black and white)

Croix

[Eagle Ray]

Hello again Croix and Paws,

Croix, I remember my dad telling me about the spaghetti tree hoax but I had never seen the footage. So I googled it just now and watched the BBC story on the spaghetti harvest on YouTube. I am imagining that perhaps many mostly knew spaghetti out of a tin and so were really conned into believing it could grow on trees. I am imagining the very learned sounding narrator having to practice not bursting into laughter while delivering this news piece.

Thank you for sharing this humorous piece of history.

Hugs,

ER

[Croix]

As far as I remeber this became an April Fools Day tradition in the BBC, with such hoaxes as conversion to decimal time, and the architectural problems it would cause Big Ben, on another occasion an entire library being built upside-down due to to the builder holding the plans upside-down

Australia has of course the highly dangerous woeful bunny and the remarkably speedy hybrid camel-kangaroo. If I remember correctly David Rabbitborough (the Comedy Company in the 80's) , complete with safari suit, distinctive voice and hand gestures was a party to one of htese

-C

[Paw Prints]

Hello ER & Croix, wave to everyone,

I remember seeing the spaghetti tree hoax many years ago on an ABC show that was a compilation of some of the best April Fool pranks done by the BBC, ABC & major masthead newspapers from here & the UK over the years.  

My book on frogs has arrived, so I'm going to go through it & flag each page that has a frog from this area to make it easier when I see a frog to find a matching picture to ID it.  

I'm still writing in my journal.  One thing I've noticed since starting a week ago is that I am currently struggling to keep my focus on anything for any length of time.  I'm sure that has to do with my low mood.  I'm going to just keep journalling for another month & then I'm thinking of reviewing it & looking for a small tweak I can do to start making positive changes.  That doesn't mean I won't be trying to do more during the next month, rather I'm giving myself permission to feel what I'm feeling & respond accordingly.

ER I hope you are feeling some improvement, stay warm.

Hugs

Paws