And so another month has come and gone. I hope that it was fun and ended on an optimistic note for you, we’ve all been through enough this year. I have officially finished up the first month of my workshop made it about half way through the 3rd Spencerian practice book, and successfully made it through (albeit with some of my sanity lost) another year of Inktober! Yes, one more year of dedication. I am however not so proud of the last one, I simply wish, like most of us that I could find more time in life. However time stops for no one. Lets keep our chins up its nearly next year, whatever that is supposed to mean.

As promised here are the final three Inktober 2020 pieces. I think I did a pretty good job on the sparrow. I thought it was fitting as lore goes They carry the souls of the dead and are considered bad luck should you kill one, however upon further research the Audubon society claims this is a false notion…so I guess I just illustrated a dead sparrow not an omen? Or I could flip the script, as they are in many cultures considered good omens…So an omen is an omen, good or bad right?

Let me start this next section by stating officially that I am in no way a medical professional and If you really are having some issues with your mental health please seek profesional help. A good resource can be found here.

Last week I asked if you were being too hard on yourself. I implored you to take it easier on you and even shared how I have improved my own well being and mental health. If you missed it I encourage you now to go back and read it. A scary thought I also put that same question in my IG story section and had an alarming response.

80% of the participants responded with yes! I really can’t help but think I know people who are following the dark road in life when just nearby there is a sunny meadow where you can’t help but smile and feel good about yourself and the actions you take each day.

I will, again encourage you, to take action! Seriously, any kind of action to improve how you treat yourself. I’ll ask you now, if you don’t speak kindly to someone (I mean in the same harsh and malicious words you say to yourself) do others take notice? Was what you said so bad other people let you know including the person you were saying these things to? It is nice to have someone to stop the nonsense when it is happening. Now reflect on this for a moment and ask yourself, who sticks up for you when you are the one saying these malicious and nonsenseical things to yourself?

I know where assuming lands me…but you know that there isn’t a moderator in your head that isn’t you. And when I feel down I get even harder on myself about being in a place that I don’t want to be. I mentioned the four steps I’ve been taking but how about if the steps alone don’t help? Well I have a few extra secret backups, or I guess you could call them extra layers of armor. They are a journal and my loving spouse.

The journal is for writing down my thoughts even the ones where I am mean to myself. But something is underlying, it always is and it is really hard to see what the underlying thing is when I’m on that dark path. When I write it down, it becomes something I can come back to when I’ve calmed down. When I do go back and re-read the feels I can find the underlying problem and work towards a solution to it. After processing the emotions, re-analyzing my problem and devising a plan of attack to remedy said problem. A magical thing happens, I instantly feel some dopamine circulating through my head bringing me much needed relief. And you know you can’t help but smile after obliterating something that makes you feel bad.

This is something that anyone can do, skip your next binge episode, set aside 10-20 minutes to write about what is bothering you. Let yourself sleep on it, come back to it when you are ready to devise a plan of attack and implement the plan until you feel better about the problem or have obliterated it completly. You know obliterate is a great word.

My second secret backup is my wife. I have had a conversation with her to let her know that I was having a hard time being too hard myself. I simply asked her to point out to me whenever I was saying something mean to myself. Or not feeling as if I was doing enough even though it seemed I was moving at the speed of light. It works like a charm as it instantly snaps me back to reality instead of reeling down the dark path. I know that not everyone has a dedicated at home live in nurse to care for their state of mind like I do. She’s not actually a medical professional she just loves me and want’s to (like any other great spouse) make sure I’m happy and healthy. However don’t let this stop you from confiding in someone or asking a family member to help you notice when you are being too hard on yourself. It keeps you grounded and much happier, well at least it does for me.

I’ll even offer this up for you, let me know if ever you need to talk, I’ve been told i’m a good listener. Just don’t be surprised when I ask you to take some sort of action out of the void you feel stuck in.  No one can really help you if you refuse to help yourself.

Practice this week threw me a smidge only one word! Ugh. I won’t complain too much, progress is progress no matter how small! It seems like the more I practice the minuscule letter p the more it grows on me. I honestly never thought it would, I just don’t like how it’s not closed on the bottom. At least it’s not the letter k or c I know I keep saying it but I really just don’t like the minuscule c.

Have you had a chance to utilize the revised practice sheets? They can be found on the shiny new resources page and might just let you focus your attention on something else than this crazy year and election season too boot. I would love it if you could print one out and try it to let me know what you think. I’m on the fence, I like the true scale size but I feel it may not be the best practice for a person whom has never attempted Spencerian.

As always, until next week. Happy practicing and a Happy November to you!