Things that Help Me to Cope

AJ's Book Corner(ABC's)

Title: Children of Blood and Bone

Author(s): Tomi Adeyemi

Link: I'm Reading...

What I’m listening to...

Name of Album: It Was Divine

Artist: Alina Baraz

Favorite Song: To Me

Link: I'm Listening to...

What I’m Watching

Name of Show: Couples Therapy on Amazon Prime

Brief Overview: A therapist who is providing therapy to multiple couples. She has an older couple who has been together for 23 years, a younger lesbian couple, with one of them being a transgender woman, I’m going to refer to her as a woman period and biracial couple with a black man and a Puerto Rican woman. And the last couple that I’m pretty sure is going to separate is a young couple that feels they are growing apart and are unable to reconcile.

Not every day is a good day for me, I don’t feel good all the time. I’ve lived with depression and anxiety almost all my life, learning how to navigate my life with it is important. Here are somethings that I use to cope with my depression and anxiety.

1. I watch comedies. I recently watched Amanda Seales “I Be Knowing” and I watch David Chappelle. I like to watch comedians that make me both laugh and think.

2. I like to color and doodle. I have purchased two of the same Wonder Woman coloring books because I love Wonder Woman and to color.

3. I’m beginning to meditate & manifest and use affirmations.

4. I like to sit on my porch and enjoy the weather and nature, listening to the birds and the wind, the rain. I like to sit there and relax.

5. I like to take naps when I feel like it.

6. I like to take pictures and film. I’m an aspiring screenwriter, director so I understand that I have to take some initiative and film stuff and explore that side of creativity rather than just writing the story.

7. I LOVE LISTENING TO PODCAST. I listen to podcast daily and that comes from when I used to commute to work over an hour and it stuck even now that I’m at home more. I listen both actively and passively but I am subscribed to various podcast and listen to them weekly.

8. I like to listen to music and to sing. I just discovered Spotify because of one of my favorite podcasters moving over that platform exclusively. Spotify opened me up to a new type of music that I never listened to before and that’s European rap R&B Soul/Rap. I sing sometimes and I’m decent LOL, every now and then I bust a twerk. (Cue Meg the Stallion)

9. Writing is a constructive way that I get my feelings out whether that be through writing poetry, novels, scripts or whatever.

10.Journaling and planning is good for me and I have personal, mental health and physical planner, and a school planner. With my personal planner I write down what I plan to do and what I actually did. I can feel like a failure sometimes, so being able to see what I accomplished during the day let’s me feel like no so much of a failure. In my mental health and physical planner helps track my mood, if I’m having anxiety, depression, stress, my workouts, or lack thereof LOL. My school planner is the newest planner I have, and it will be used for next semester to keep track of my course work due dates, assignments I’ve completed. And all my planners get my HAPPY PLANNER stickers.

I’m grateful for being able to begin to find my voice.

Experience is the hardest kind of teacher.

It gives you the test first and the lesson afterward.

-Oscar Wilde