#postitive mental attitude

[whispytears]

NEW Discord Server Opening: To Be Heard💜

🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼

Ever need advice from someone further along in their journey than you and/or has experienced what you’re going through?

Join the PUBLIC server “To Be Heard” where people at different points of their mental health journey help one another to stay on track in any capacity. This can range from simple advice to doing a daily check in by celebrating any size win in your life.

You have the option of being a regular member that has more common mental health issues OR an ed member that can use support in their recovery.

As the server grows we are open to making new channels but for now we have built a basic space for people who need this type of environment in their lives.

Stop by and look around. All people from any walk of life are welcomed because anyone can have these struggles :) ❣️

Thank you for reading this message and we hope you are able to check out this server soon!

🌸~ whispy :)

server link: https://discord.gg/UCVmKZmC

[alarrytale]

Hi Marte! I had a realization from reading your blog and have you to thank for it. Like a lightbulb moment. I'm left leaning on the political scale but my family are right leaning but not far right. I wouldn't call them homophobic, in the sense that if I was to CO I know they'd be accepting, they treat lgbtq+ people they meet like everyone else. But there is something there, maybe heteronormative thinking. They're fine with lgbtq+ people as long as they're not 'in their face'. So they really dislike S*m Sm*th and think that what he is doing is wrong and that he has mental health issues. They would hate Lil N*s as well if they knew who he was. They think that HW is trying to force lgbtq+ people on everyone else, like Kr*sten St*wart. They hate B*llie E*lish and find her weird. But they're also big fans of Freddie and George. So maybe it's some kind of form of homophobia or really heteronormative thinking. Like they're okay with lgbtq+ people as long as they're not graphic, but they're fine for straight people to be. Have seen a lot of people share these same views. Reading your blog has helped me realize that we need lgbtq+ people 'forced' on audiences because it's the only way to normalize them. Having the odd mainstream queer movie or queer artist isn't going to achieve anything. We need lots of them because then people will get used to seeing them. People argue that lgbtq+ people are accepted but they're not really. They are more now than they were in the past but conservatives are still targeting them and trying to bring them down. It would be really nice to get to the stage where a lgbtq+ movie can be as successful as straight movies, or a gay artist can be as successful as a straight artist. We need more out public figures. The music industry seems even further behind than HW. There is no mainstream artists other than Troy? writing about same sex relationships, or not many are anyway. The music industry is so slow to catch up.

Hi, anon!

Yes, queer people are often more accepted, respected and honored by straight people if they assimilate and adapt to straight norms and culture, rather than immersing themself in queer culture. It's a bit of homophobia mixed with anti-feminism, but mostly a lot of xenophobia and prejudices that makes it so. Most men got short hair so when people see a man with long hair it's going to be foreign to them, and unless they're exposed to it often they're going to have a reaction to it everytime they see men with long hair. Same with purple hair, tattoos, painted nails or two men holding hands.

Everything foreign, or something that's diverging from what they consider normal, common, expected and predictable, or something they can't relate to, is going to feel scary. It will challenge their way of thinking and seeing the world, challenge the societal norms and what they know. It will also challenge their own prejudices.

If they've never met, worked with or had a queer friend or family member, being exposed to a queer person can be met with negative feelings. Queer people often break several of the straight norms, blur the lines of feminity and masculinity and deliberatly seek to oppose the conventional. If you're never been exposed to it and lived a sheltered life where everyone is assimilating and people are afraid to diverge from the norm, it's going to be a wake up call.

The only way to change people's prejudices and attitudes towards queer people is exposure. A bit at the time. Let queer people tell their stories in the mainstream sphere. Straight people need to be educated and their prejudices needs to be challenged. Let queer people show straight people that they're just as good parents as a straight people, even if the men wear dresses or the females wear cargo shorts. Put out queer people in postition of power to show straight people that they're just as capable and just as respected as everyone else. Show us queer heros and queer success stories. Make straight people see the value in diversity and the need for equal rights regardless of people's sexuality or gender identity. When people have a lesbian neighbour, a non-binary grocer, a transgender work colleague and a gay boss they will eventually stop seeing sexuality and start seeing the person. They will create relations with them, start respecting them and not think of them as different. It will be the new normal.

We need to train people to see past heteronormativity, we need them to understand that they must always ask for pronouns or address people as they/them when they don't know. We need people to stop assuming sexuality and gender. If they are asked for their preferred pronouns, and it's normalised, they will start asking others for theirs.

The more people who come out the more straight people will be exposed to queer people and queer culture. More people are coming out in the music industry, but it's slow going. Billie, Jojo Siwa, Troye, Frank Ocean, Tyler the Creator, Lil Nas X, Luke Hemmings, Halsey, Demi Lovato and Miley to name a few. H and L have both had queer support bands on their tour as well. There aren’t that many mainstream artists out yet. I do have hope that more mainstream artist will come out, or become mainstream when they're out. It needs to happen to normalise being queer. If queer people continue to hide in the shadows, they will not bee seen and remembered by straight people. This will take time, but it got to start somewhere.

[mayeetjim]

I would just like to mention the bathroom wall in the middle school hall.

These are all written by students over the past 3 years, being taken down, wiped away, written over by other students and faculty, but they keep putting it up.

Everytime I think of giving up, of dropping out and just running away, I look at this wall, and remember humans are good.

[positivitystartsnow]

“When you have a bad day, a really bad day, try and treat the world better than it treated you.” -Patrick Stump

[indiiglow]

hey I finally got around to painting this

[courage2heal]

[smilingdays2027]

And second video: it’s so adorable fan crying hugged from @therealjacksepticeye 💖💖

[leynaeithnea]

We should accept boundaries more often and set our own.

[maryselkie]

each morning makes me want to live longer and happier

[magemelondew]

pls be happy

[swluminekin]

When a video game company sends a P.M.A. message in its main series game.

So I’m sure I’m sure that I’m not the only one who noticed this, but I found this really sweet. I’ve noticed a few different games do this recently - perhaps it’s the gaming companies paying attention to the mental attitudes of gamers or people in general. Knowing that games are a way to escape for several people, I’ve seen games more and more often put messages of positivity into their games. Especially if the games are a part of a company’s main/big name series.

One that I noticed recently is from Studio Wildcard in their main survival series Ark: Survival Evolved. Specifically, it’s in their Extinction expansion for the game. Now while I don’t necessarily play the game myself (yet), I do watch some people who do. They’re good theorizers and researchers. They comb through what they can and what have you - including the various Explorer Notes of the games.

Well, in Extinction the Explorer Notes you get are known as “The One Who Waits.” There’s 30 in total. And it’s the last note that hits a cord. Honestly, it is probably one of the strongest and most in your face messages of P.M.A. and hope that I’ve seen in... really any game - and this is coming from someone who friggin’ plays Kingdom Hearts.

Note 30 of the “The One Who Waits” Explorer Notes series reads as follows:

“Sometimes, in the midst of all your trying, success will seem so impossibly far away. Miles. Leagues. Lightyears. You’ll begin to think you have tried all you can. There’s no new angle to take, no more strength you have to give. That house you built, that companion you lost and that progress you made... now that it’s gone, what’s the point? Why keep trying?

In those moments, when you fall in to that deepest, darkest pit inside yourself, try to remember that someone believes in you. Someone wants to prop you up.

And as dark as it gets, know that there will be another sunrise - for you, for the sleepers and for the Earth. I will wait as long as I can, in the hopes that I may see it with you, but even if I cannot, then I hope you’ll enjoy it for me.

Because it’s bound to be even more beautiful than the last.”

In this crazy world, it’s hard to forget that we aren’t alone. That we have people who want to help us, want to bring us out of our depressive states and back out into a positive mindset. There is always that light at the end of the tunnel.

Depression and just over all tiredness, stress and even burnout bring out the worst mentalities in everyone. You can’t see past the end of your nose, you don’t know what to do and you fall into that dark cavern if despair and pain. You don’t know how to go forward and you don’t know if it will ever end. That light is so far away and it feels like you’ll never reach it. You’re all alone and you can’t find any help.

But just taking that one step.... Followed by another... And another... It will bring you closer to the light. With each step, you’ll realize that you have that support. That even if the person giving you support isn’t there with you physically, they’re there with you mentally and spiritually. They wouldn’t want you to give up, and they know that it’s hard for you.

But knowing that you have people there for you? Knowing that you are so loved and cared for?

Makes each sunrise that much more beautiful. Makes everything work wild in the end.

Game developers at Studio Wildcard sent this message in a video game to try to help you get to the end of the game. And true, it’s a message from a character in game. This message, however, feels more like a message of positivity and hope. Something for gamers and people to see in a harsh world filled with doubt and pain for certain. It reminds us that we’re not alone, and that things will get better, even in the darkest of times.

And isn’t that what Positive Mental Attitude is about?

I think so.

[nyxi-styx]

Today is the one year anniversary of my PMA tattoo 🥰

[stardustandvanilla]

9 and 19 from the end of the year asks xx

9: fave month?

umm so the best month(s) for me must have been, january because i love january and june because i went on a great trip made some GREAT friends. also december bc, well, i love december. and winter. and summer. and the monsoons. ans spring. and also whenever it was when i met you bc HEY!!!!!!!!!!!!.

19: what am i looking forward to?

in 2020?? hmm?? what am i looking forward to? i am looking for acceptance, not of myself, but of different cultures. i am looking for a time when all ppl will love all ppl no matter what they're hobbies, likes or dislikes, gender, sexuality, faves, biases, preferences. but i am always looking for these things. i really dislike this thing where musical theatre fans will say, 'ha! you don't listen to real musical theatre, you're a fake fan.' or when someone will say 'haha vsco' or when band fans will say 'wind instruments are the only valid instruments you guys are just wannabees'. i understand when people say things like this jokingly, but when it turns into cancel culture or cringe culture, it becomes mean.

but i am always looking for these things. and i will continue to always look for these things, because negativity on the internet will always exist.

what am i actually looking for, in 2022?

i'll tell you. i am looking for love. i am looking for the beauty in the smallest things. i am looking for self love. i want to wake up in the morning and go out to get a chocolate because i deserve it. i want to go to the mirror and stretch in my white pyjamas and tousle my own hair and say, "today is a good day, it's going to be a great day, i can feel it' because i am going to make it a good day. i want to be positive. i want grow my hair out and take care of it for once in my life. i want change my clothes and take a bath every day because i feel fresh and i like that. i want to spend an hour in front of the mirror and put on make up or wear a thousand bangels and rings in my wrists and tie up my hair in the craziest hair-dos. i want to wear a dress and go running and hiking up the hills, early in the morning and wake up to watch to sun rise and watch it set. i want to go into the middle of nowhere and stargaze. i want to do things alone and with my friends. i want be able to leave my friends whenever i want to — not need, want — and i want to be able to cut off people that may be the most amazing, but are hurting me.

i want to study. i want to learn as much as i can and i want to make myself proud. i want to work for others. i want to compete in things. i want to chase my dreams. i want to fulfill all of my seven thousand aesthetics in a single day and i want to cry and laugh and love and hate and do anything and everything that i need and want. i want to be who i am with no regrets.

i am looking for beauty. i am looking satisfaction and contentment in the littlest of things. i am looking for a small plant of my own to tend to. i am looking to the happiness on a child's face. i am looking for true, genuine laughter. i am looking for a visit from my brother and subsequently, a brilliant time with my cousins. i am looking for the wonderful feeling of rightness when i eat a single nutty chocolate. i am looking for the feeling when i ace a test. i am looking for crushes, the sweetest things. i am looking for green. i am looking forward to the new songs i will listen to and the stories i will get lost in and the dances i will dance and the lyrics i will write. i am looking forward to the new friends i will make and the new year. i am looking forward to the new year.

i am looking forward to recovery, to getting better. i am looking forward to being able to say things and sing things and finally being who i am.

i am looking forward to love. and what kind, i do not know, but i am looking forward to the most beautiful kind of love.

xx i love you, thank you for sending me this. it gave me such a great opportunity to put some things out there. i am looking for love.

[mayeetjim]

I would just like to mention the bathroom wall in the middle school hall.

These are all written by students over the past 3 years, being taken down, wiped away, written over by other students and faculty, but they keep putting it up.

Everytime I think of giving up, of dropping out and just running away, I look at this wall, and remember humans are good.

[teenuhlee]

Post Grad blues

After college, you’re in the limbo of not knowing what to do with your life and figuring out what to do after graduation. I remember back in 2017 when I graduated undergrad...I was so miserable the last semester. I was constantly thinking what should I do with my life? Should I just do post-bacc and take some classes to boost my GPA while studying for my MCAT or should I go into nursing? In the end, I don’t know if it was an easier path I chose or the path that I genuinely felt like was my calling. My passion for pre-health existed for as long as I could remember, but my passion to become a doctor was flimsy. I wanted to find a path I could genuinely learn and enjoy, which is how I came to choose nursing. 

This post isn’t why I chose nursing, but more focused on the immediate misery I felt moving back home after graduation. Now mind you, I was away from home for 4 years. Of course, I went home during breaks, but after sophomore year I spent most of my breaks in school, so coming back home was definitely something I was not ready for. The biggest struggle was living with my parents again. 4 years is a long time for me to change and for my parents who were used to seeing my homebody stage throughout elementary to high school, they found it unbelievable when I would stay out till 3 or 4 in the morning. My mom would literally call me every hour asking why I’m not home, literally waiting in the living room until I came home and I get it she’s worried and shit, but for me it was uncomfortable. I was free for 4 years, so suddenly having to be conscious of when to come home and etc was actually very annoying. I remember I would argue with my parents about it all the time and I would always just use the reasoning “you guys left me alone for 4 years and I'm alive and well, so just leave me alone cause I’m pretty sure I can be responsible for my life”. My dad definitely did not take that well. He was going on and on about how I’m a girl and it’s not safe and blah blah blah. Yeah. Very traditional Asian parents.

Aside from living back at home under parent’s rules, I also had to adjust to the long-distance friendships. Friends I could literally see in a few minutes were now MILES/STATES away. Facetime was probably the best thing that happened. I was able to catch up with everyone I wanted to and stay connected, but FOMO was so real. I felt like I was missing out on everything and sooner or later I would become a memory or someone that was in a moment of time. I tried to stay connected, but honestly, it was difficult. I don’t know if watching everyone’s story was fun or unhealthy. From then I started to really crave and miss friendships. When I started nursing school, I met a bunch of new friends. Definitely a different crowd from what I was used to because I grew up around Asian American friends who more or less understood my culture and background whereas in nursing school people were definitely more used to the American culture and ideals. The friendships I made in nursing school were definitely great, but I couldn’t help but think about how my undergrad friends were my forever friends. 

Postgrad blues is definitely a real thing and you have to be willing to push yourself out of it. People won’t reach out to you unless you show signs you need help. I’ve definitely got better with reaching out to people and reconnecting to friends, but that’s only cause I was proactive with wanting to rebuild relationships. If people get too caught up in the idea of “what am I doing with my life” then you’ll get stuck in that headspace. It starts with you and what you do to make steps forward. I believe someone will always meet you at some point to pull you out and bring you back into life.

smile always,

teenuh

[i-really-like-mario]

Sean is one of the best LGBTQA+ allies we have. Thanks so much for supporting!