Paddy’s Ponderings

Here we are, once again and even though the dynamics of how Bell Let's Talk Day work, I am still inclined to say something. And I have been pushing myself to re-invigorate my blog, so today seems as good a day as any to do so! The fact of the matter in Mental Health is still important. Mental Illness still carries a stigma. Mental Illness affects more people than you would suspect. The statistics from Bell today made my stomach turn. Here they are: More than 200 Canadians will attempt suicide every day; twelve will die 56% of people struggling in this country are not getting the help they need One in four Canadians have been experiencing high levels of anxiety The number of opioid overdose deaths in Canada went up more than 90% during the pandemic. It's now 20 per day Anyone who lives anywhere in our country has no doubt seen the effects of the opioid crisis. One of my favourite speakers/authors, Dr. Jody Carrington has been flagging this through covid and continues to talk abo...

Today is Pink Shirt Day in support of an anti-bullying movement. I wore pink and I share my story so that others may not feel so alone. I also share in hopes of making the world a better place. So, tonight, I thought was a good time to write a little about my thoughts and feelings on bullying. First: Kids aren't the problem. Kids are not born bullies. They are not born with a heart full of hate for someone from the BIPOC community. They are not born with a mind full of disdain for people that don't belong to the same religious community that they do. Children do not come into this world with a preconceived notion about class and how that should affect their opinion of people. Children also, rarely come into this world damaged by abuse and neglect looking for someone to use as an outlet for their own pent-up fear/rage/helplessness. Kids also are not the ones who tell the principal that little Johnny couldn't possibly have bullied little Adam as that's "just not who ...

  Trapped. That’s my word for today. Trapped.  I feel trapped in my home, my community, my province, my country. I know, I know, some of you are probably thinking, these are first world problems. According to the state of my mental health, it may well be that, but it is also something that is wreaking havoc with my anxiety. Just thinking about it elevates my heart rate and makes me nauseous.   I am not going to wax too political as I truly try to keep most of those thoughts to myself, though the rest of my world is pretty much an open book. That said, the numbers do not add up  on either side of the argument and much like the US election, the numbers  have a tendency to  be skewed to benefit whatever side is representing it .  Let's talk about Alberta . Our #'s are down. All the numbers. Including the testing numbers,  which has to make a person question why – why  are we  doing half as many tests now as we were prior to the latest lockd...

Funny story, and one indicative of just what I wanted to write about today. I held off on making this post as I wanted to do it on the anniversary of my accident, which I would have sworn was December 6th. Looking back at my Facebook memories and then confirming with my calendar tells me that it was December 3, 2016, that was a life-altering moment for me, not the 6th. So, now I am three days late with my anniversary post. Welcome to life post-brain injury. 4 years ago, I was at a gymkhana with a friend of mine that we had been participating in the series for a couple months. My hubby, daughter, and sister came along to visit and watch. This gymkhana series was really just motivation for me to get my butt on my horses in the winter and have some fun with some friends. The day started out normally enough, but it took a bad turn that could have killed me, but most definitely changed my life forever. I was riding my big ol' reliable horse home in the barrel racing event when something...

  I see a lot of people posting a give thanks post and I am assuming it is an LDS thing since it is all Mormon’s posting them. Here’s a different perspective: I am glad that people are grateful for the community they grew up in. What I would like to share is a different view of an idyllic town built on Christian roots. When I started Kindergarten, I was the one of two non-mormons in my K-9 school. As someone whose parents and grandparents did not practice the predominant religion, my siblings and I were on the outside of every circle, for much of our time there, with a few beautiful exceptions. Kids were rarely allowed to come to our house because our parents smoked and we didn’t go to church. Our birthday parties were tiny, if attended at all. Cruel comments were made on the bus almost daily to at least one of us.  In grade two, I got made fun of in front of the bulk of our grade 2/3 split at recess because I accidentally said Oh My God. One person stood up for me. She was th...