sushidynasty:

For those of you with anxiety

cameoamalthea:

greenjudy:

pyrrhicgoddess:

thgchoir:

no offense but this is literally the most neurotypical thing i have ever seen

Uhhhh… no.
This is what they teach you in therapy to deal with BPD and general depression.
When I got out of the hospital after hurting myself a second time, I got put into intensive outpatient program for people being released from mental hospitals as a way to monitor and help transition them into getting them efficient long-term care.
This is something they stressed, especially for people with general depression. When you want to stay at home and hide in your bed, forcing yourself to do the opposite is what is helpful. For me, who struggles with self harm- “I want to really slice my arm up. The opposite would be to put lotion on my skin (or whatever would be better, like drawing on my skin) the opposite is the better decision.” It doesn’t always work because of course mental health isn’t that easy, but this is part of what’s called mindfulness (they say this all the time in therapy)

Being mindful of these is what puts you on the path to recovery. If you’re mindful, you are able to live in that moment and try your best to remember these better options.

I swear to god, I don’t get why some people on this website straight up reject good recovery help like this because either they a)have never been in therapy so don’t understand in context how to use these coping tactics. Or b)want to insist that all therapists and psych doctors are neurotypical and have zero idea what they are talking about. (Just so ya know, they teach this in DBT, the therapy used to help BPD. The psychologist who came up with DBT actually had BPD, so….a neurotypical women didn’t come up with this.)

I have clinical OCD and for me, exposure therapy–a version of “do the opposite”–has been fundamental. I’ve had huge improvement in the last year, but I’m 100% clear that if I hadn’t done my best to follow this protocol I’d be fucked. I have a lot of empathy for that moment when you’re just too tired to fight and you check the stove or you wash your hands or go back to the office at midnight to make sure the door is locked. But the kind of therapeutic approach outlined above has been crucial for me. 

It’s hard to do. I’ve weathered panic attacks trying to follow this protocol. But I’ve gotten remarkable results. I was afraid to touch the surfaces in my house, okay? I was afraid to touch my own feet, afraid to touch my parrot–deliberately exposing myself to “contamination” has helped me heal. I can’t speak for people with other issues, but this has helped my anxiety and OCD. 

I feel that tumblr, in an effort to be accepting of mental illness, has become anti-recovery. Having a mental illness does not make you a bad person. There is nothing morally wrong with having a mental illness anymore than more than there’s something morally wrong with having the flu. However, if you’re “ill” physically or mentally, something is wrong in the sense that you are unwell and to alleviate that you should try to get better. While there is not “cure” for mental illness, there are ways to get better.

There was a post on tumblr where someone with ADHD posted about how much you can get done when you focus and was attacked for posting about being “nuerotypical” – when she was posting about the relief she got from being on an medication to treat her illness. 

I saw another post going around tumblr that said something along the line of “you control your thoughts, why not choose to have happy thoughts” which again was shot down as “nuerotypical” but while you don’t have control over what thoughts come into your mind, you absolutely can and should choose to have happy thoughts. In DBT we call this “positive self talk”.

I’m in DBT to help treat PTSD stemming from child abuse. The abuse and abandonment I experienced destroyed my self esteem and created a lot of anxiety over upsetting other people. DBT has taught me to recognize when my thoughts are distorting realty ‘no one likes you’ and answer back ‘plenty of people like you, you don’t need everyone to like you, especially if the relationship doesn’t make you happy’, to respond to the thought ‘I’m so worthless’ with ‘you’re really great and have accomplished something’ 

And it’s not easy to challenge your thoughts, it’s a skill that’s learned and it’s hard to force yourself to think something that doesn’t seem authentic or even seems wrong to think – it’s hard to be encouraging towards yourself when you hate yourself – but you force yourself to be aware of your thoughts and push back when you fall into unhealthy patterns 

That isn’t “so neurotypical” that’s recovery. 

Not shaming mental illness doesn’t mean shaming RECOVERY.

Pro-Recovery isn’t anti-disability. 

Do not shame healthy behaviors as “neurotypical”.

Learning healthy behaviors and taking steps to treat mental illness and disorders including taking medication if that’s what works for you is important. You shouldn’t be ashamed if you have mental illness, but you shouldn’t say ‘well I’m not neurotypical therefor I can’t do anything to get better’ – while there is no cure for mental illness, there is a lot you can do to get better, to function better, to manage your mental illness and be safer, happier, and healthier for it. 

pretty space words

danscrotch:

aphelion – the point in the orbit of a planet, asteroid, or comet at which it is farthest from the Sun.
astral – relating to or resembling the stars.
caldera – a large volcanic crater, especially one formed by a major eruption leading to the collapse of the mouth of the volcano.
celestial – positioned in or relating to the sky, or outer space as observed in astronomy.
constellation – a group of stars forming a recognizable pattern.
cosmos – the universe seen as a well-ordered whole.
equinox – the time or date at which the sun crosses the celestial equator, when day and night are of equal length.
faculae – bright patches that are visible on the Sun’s surface.
lunation – the interval of a complete lunar cycle, between one new Moon and the next.
interstellar – occurring or situated between stars.
nebula – a cloud of gas and dust in outer space, visible in the night sky either as an indistinct bright patch or as a dark silhouette against other luminous matter.
perihelion – the point in the orbit of a planet, asteroid, or comet at which it is closest to the Sun.
synodic – relating to or involving the conjunction of stars, planets, or other celestial objects.

characterdesigninspiration:

Quite a few people requested some form of trait/personality generator, and here’s the result!  I wanted to keep it vague enough that the options could work for any universe, be it modern, fantasy, scifi, or anything else, so these are really just the basics. Remember that a character is much more than a list of traits, and this should only be used as a starting point– I tried to include a variety of things, but further development is definitely a must.

Could pair well with the gender and sexuality generator.

To Play: Click and drag each gif, or if that isn’t working/you’re on mobile, just take a screenshot of the whole thing (multiple screenshots may be required if you want more than one trait from each category).

spanishskulduggery:

So, guys, probably more reliable than Google Translate is in many cases there’s Linguee.

Linguee is a sort of dictionary filled with examples and sentences from all over the internet so you can look up individual phrases or words and see how they’re used and in what contexts.

So if you want to type in an actual phrase or something in English or Spanish (or a different language if you pick it) you can see your words used in sentences and see how actual sentences look… rather than relying on Google Translate to mess up the grammar or false cognates.

And more than that, you can also check the sources they take the example sentences from.

I highly recommend Linguee for people who are trying to figure out specific phrases rather than particular words (which I would use WordReference for).

In case no one told you growing up

dlanadhz:

  • Bras last longer if you let them air dry. Don’t put them in the dryer.
  • If you have a problem with frizzy hair, don’t dry your hair with a towel. It makes the frizzies worse. (I recently read an article that said to use a t-shirt? I brush mine out and let it air dry.)
  • Whites wash best in hot water. Everything else can be in cold – save on your electricity bill.
  • You can kill 99.9% of germs in a sponge by putting it in the dishwasher for a cycle or by microwaving it for 2 min (be sure to make the sponge damp before microwaving and to put a cup half full of water in with it and please DO NOT squeeze the sponge until it has cooled off)
  • Airing out your room/house and letting sunlight in every so often can decrease the number of household pests like silverfish and ants.
  • Black underwear is best during your period as stains are less likely to be visible.
  • To save money, put aside 10% of each paycheck into a savings account. It’ll add up.
  • Unless your hair has something on/in it (like grease or mud or something), using conditioner first can actually be the better choice. The conditioner holds in the good oils that help you hair look sleek and beautiful, which shampoo would otherwise wash away.
  • Speaking of shampoo – if you have long hair, washing just the bits that touch your scalp is generally enough. The rest of your hair gets cleaned with just the run off from your scalp.
  • If you put a tampon in and it’s uncomfortable/you can feel it, you didn’t do it quite right. A properly placed tampon is virtually unnoticeable by the wearer.
  • Apply deodorant/antiperspirant a couple hours in advanced of when you need it. This gives the product the chance to block your sweat glands. Using deodorant just before going somewhere where you’ll sweat (this means walking outside for people in high humidity places) results in your sweat washing the deodorant off and starkly limiting its usefulness.
  • After running the dryer, use the dryer sheet from that load to brush out the lint catch – it gets everything off in a fraction of the time it’ll take you to get it clean with your bare hands. Paper towels also work well.
  • Wash your face everyday, or as often as possible. Forget which brand of cleanser is best. Just washing your face everyday will guarantee you clearer skin. And do you best not to pop pimples, as tempting as the urge may be.
  • Fold laundry asap after taking it from the dryer to avoid wrinkles. This may seem obvious for dress shirts and silly for things like t-shirts, but you’ll notice the difference even then once your shirts stop looking like unfolded paper balls.

Obscure Color Words

albicant: whitish; becoming white
amaranthine: immortal; undying; deep purple-red colour
aubergine: eggplant; a dark purple colour
azure: light or sky blue; the heraldic colour blue
celadon: pale green; pale green glazed pottery
cerulean: sky-blue; dark blue; sea-green
chartreuse: yellow-green colour
cinnabar: red crystalline mercuric sulfide pigment; deep red or scarlet colour
citrine: dark greenish-yellow
eburnean: of or like ivory; ivory-coloured
erythraean: reddish colour
flavescent: yellowish or turning yellow
greige: of a grey-beige colour
haematic: blood coloured
heliotrope: purplish hue; purplish-flowered plant; ancient sundial; signalling mirror
hoary: pale silver-grey colour; grey with age
isabelline: greyish yellow
jacinthe: orange colour
kermes: brilliant red colour; a red dye derived from insects
lovat: grey-green; blue-green
madder: red dye made from brazil wood; a reddish or red-orange colour
mauve: light bluish purple
mazarine: rich blue or reddish-blue colour
russet: reddish brown
sable: black; dark; of a black colour in heraldry
saffron: orange-yellow
sarcoline: flesh-coloured
smaragdine: emerald green
tilleul: pale yellowish-green
titian: red-gold, reddish brown
vermilion: bright red
virid: green
viridian: chrome green
xanthic: yellow
zinnober: chrome green

Some Artist Tips you May or May Not Know

ashalina-art:

Just from personal experience.

1: Never try to draw on an empty stomach. You’ll make mistakes and be uncomfortable. (But don’t stuff yourself till you’re sick either.)

2: If you have to go to the bathroom, go. A full bladder or otherwise does serious damage to the attention and patience spans. Plus it gives you time to stretch your legs.

3: Before you ink it, leave it alone. Come back later (a few hours, a day?) and check for major anatomy mistakes. Work on something else while you’re waiting.

4: Stay hydrated! The brain and fine motor skills work better when properly circulated.

5: Do not have an excessive amount of sugar before sitting down to work. You’ll get jittery and impatient. Same goes for immense amounts of caffeine.

6: If you’re stuck, take a break to stand and stretch. Walk around the room. But don’t THINK of it as a break. Just take time to really focus on your body. Loosen it up, get a goooood long stretch and some deep breaths. (but don’t pass out!) It’ll jolt the mind awake and let you really relax a moment.

7: Keep. All. Your. Old. Art. I don’t care what it is. Keep it. Date it if it’s in your computer folders. Make a suitcase filled with it. (I personally have ALL my old art in a thick work folder.)

8: Keep your sketchbooks together, used and unused. If there’s a good sale on sketchbooks, get two or three! You won’t regret it later. There’s no such thing as too many. (I currently have about ten spankin’ new sketchbooks and I know I’ll need/use every single one of them.)

9: Date your sketchbooks. Put a start and finish date on them.

10: I’m afraid I don’t practice this one: date your drawings. You’ll be happy about it later. You don’t need to SIGN every drawing, but do date them. At least date pages.

11: ART BLOCK HAPPENS. Art block is pretty much a CONSTANT state of mind for artists. You’re never out of art block totally. But sometimes you get bursts of inspiration that make it feel like you’re out. So instead of feeling like you’re ill if you suddenly have artblock, remind yourself that this happens all the time, and you get out of it eventually, every time. c:>

12: If you’re REALLY stuck on some bad art block, do what I do.

Draw a brain barf. This is where you take a blank sheet of paper, and you just LET your hand be random. Draw whatever comes to mind, as it comes to mind. in the middle of drawing a hippo in a top hat but you think of a jolly rancher riding a unicycle? Switch immediately.

Let your brain just vomit all over the page. You’ll be surprised what comes up and what art block this can get you out of. It’s gotten me out of it various times.

13: Take advice from more experienced artists. But do NOT take everything as Gospel. Some people are just wrong.

14: HAND SHYNESS/ ART ENVY/ SELF CONSCIOUSNESS/ AND SKILL IMPATIENCE WILL EAT YOU ALIVE like a Titan. Do not let yourself get shy after looking at ‘better art’, do not let yourself think your art is worthless or your skills are worthless, and do not let yourself get frustrated that you cannot be at a higher skill level RIGHT NOW. Your brain will try to do this. All the time. Keep yourself in check. If you keep going at it, and keep working, you will get better. This is why you keep your old art. Look at it to remind you how far you’ve come.

15: Draw what you like. This is so important. (This does not apply for exploitative art. :l That’s just wrong. So long as you’re not targeting someone harmfully, I guess you’re fine.)

But don’t let people’s preferences dictate what you can and can’t draw. Draw whatever the heck you like. Accept that no matter WHAT there will be someone out there that hates it. Always. This is just a fact of life. But don’t let it get you down. I would have stopped being an artist at day one if I had.

16: You never. Stop. Learning. Ever. You will be old and grey and still be learning new things. That’s okay. That’s the nature of art. Even the ‘pros’ don’t know everything.

I hope these help someone out there