Trying to get it right

Today was another stressful day. I didn’t really keep track of how many days it’s been since we started this work from home because of the quarantine. I’ll figure it out later. I don’t think I took working from home for granted before this all, but now I know I took working from the office for granted for sure. I miss seeing everyone and the energy the studio had. Not to say I don’t love working with my wife every day, she’s my rock and one of the biggest reasons I live every day, but it’s hard to collaborate when you can’t effectively collaborate. People are starting to get snippy at each other. I guess it’s to be expected. I don’t know of anyone who has adequate de-stressors at this time. I’m trying to be understanding at work. Putting my best foot forward doesn’t work so well when my mind keeps me up all night. I don’t think I’ve slept enough for the last few nights and I’m not so sure if it’s my head or my body fighting my urge to sleep. There are nightmares sure, but then there are also just moments of my body just protesting to the thought of closing my eyes. Surges of adrenaline force me awake. This probably doesn’t help my mannerisms the next day but I still try. There’s a bigger picture every day. I try to focus on that. Ugh. I hope this all ends soon. I hope you all find happiness in this weird time. 

-Skipperstitch 

Random thought of the day:

I really do wonder who decided what food tasted good and how. Like there’s gotta be someone out there that thinks pig placenta is a delicacy…

Inspirational quote of the day:

Anything that annoys you is teaching you patience. Anyone who abandons you is teaching you how to stand up on your own two feet. Anything that angers you is teaching you forgiveness and compassion. Anything that has power over you is teaching you how to take your power back. Anything you hate is teaching you, unconditional love. Anything you fear is teaching you courage to overcome your fear. Anything you can’t control is teaching you how to let go. – Jackson Kiddard

Prisons

Words have multiple meanings

and a perfect one to bring up

is the word we use for a space

where people are incarcerated

in a cell made of concrete

at least thats the one most representative

of this word

but sometimes we keep ourselves

we muddle our own light

for fear of things and other thoughts

we allow the world to reign

in our own little box

our brains themselves can strangle us

can trap us in the most excruciating place

it can become an endless desert

the darkest depths of the ocean

or the arms of one who abuses us

the saddest one being our own face

smiling

through bared teeth

a prison of our own creation

Mother’s day.

I woke up. It’s already late. 1pm. I look at my wife laying next to me and smile. I remember the day. It’s mother’s day. I remember in sharp detail that I live with my parents. I can’t help but feel like I’m dragging my partner down in life. My chest heaves and I feel sick. This is a recurring thought. It comes when I wake up. Every day. But today I should be happy. I am thankful. My mother, I think to myself, must be at church. I imagine that the priest is just finishing up communion. My mother, fussing with my sister. Keeping her happy and content. She’s always been good at keeping my sister happy and content. In fact, she’s always been good at keeping most of her family happy and content. That sickly feeling comes back again. This time I remember all the times I was suffering from a bout of stress or depression. The amount of times I pushed her away because I didn’t know what else to do. I don’t like it when she sees me weak. It’s a silly thought. She saw me at my weakest before. I chalk it up to some macho man thought. My wife spurs me awake. She says we’re supposed to meet my family at our favorite Chinese restaurant for lunch. Depression hits hard again. But I push through. I think of my mom and I get up. I realize how much I think of my mom when I need a push. I hope she knows how much I love her. Sometimes I hope I know how much I love her. It’s a strange feeling to think that I have to remind myself actively. I think…. I think something is wrong with me but I wave the feeling away. I sink ever so slightly into the foam that comprises my bed as I roll to the edge. A tuft of fur pushes against me. My cat reminds me gently that he’s here. I’d like to think he loves me. I hope he does. It’s mother’s day. And here I am hating myself and loving my mother. It’s a pattern. One I trapped myself into many years before. I think of her face. Like my grandma’s now. She’s getting just a bit older. But she’s still beautiful. I love her. I hate that I hide so much of myself away but maybe I’m just scared she won’t understand. My wife checks in on me, nudging me to get up. Was I not already? No I’m still sinking into the foam. I wake up and take a deep breath. Happy mothers day. Thank you mom for unknowingly pushing me to keep going. The sun’s bright. I think of her smile.

–Skipperstitch

Pause

I take a moment to pause

The world moves around me, time doesn’t stand still. It moves, flows, ebbs, and slows, but never stops.

I’m stopped. My emotions consume me. My sadness washes over me. My happiness flits around me. Anger coincides deep within. Cracked like glass, the sections of self permeate with different thoughts and break and reconnect over and over.

The next moment. I am broken. The next moment. I am whole. I look around and I am no longer paused. Everything else seems to be.

A woman next to the building looks distraught, holding her phone to her ear. Biding time holding on hope that the next few words bring solace. I can only speculate. The man 2 balconies up, one hand flailing, the other clenched. Screaming obscenities into an open door. The pure unadulterated joy beaming from a child’s face, arm wrapped around a plush. The father and mother smiling as she makes her way toward them. First steps? I wonder.

Pause. Paused to take a moment in. Realizing we all stop time when we need to even though time is never stopped. Paused. Paused within a perception each of us holds. We live each in our own minds. Time doesn’t stop. We stop time.

Positivity and why its ok to be negative sometimes.

I am, by no means, a positive person; At least not in the conventional sense. Yes, I am prone to moments of being chipper and peppy, but those moments are interlaced with long stretches of malaise, indifference, and cynicism. If you know how this feels, you know just how stressful and annoying these times can be. It is especially dismaying when you experience these things at a party when you are supposed to be enjoying time with friends. If this seems to be the norm for you well I can confidently say that hey, it’s ok. This is normal for us. I compare it to a toy running out of battery. I don’t think that I’m negative at heart, but I do feel that my positivity reserves need a little bit of tweaking; But these moments, these quiet minutes where we just allow ourselves to feel…..sad? Angry? These moments are essential. It’s not something that a lot of people understand, especially those who find being positive to come naturally, but they are completely essential. In these moments, we recharge. I know that when I have these quiet moments with my wife, I recharge quicker and can sustain my happiness longer and that helps; and when you’re having fun, even with others, your battery just finds a way to stay happy longer. Laughter, appreciation, love, all of these things sustain us, but to get to these moments, we have to recharge. We have to have quiet moments. We have to have negative experiences because those make positive experiences all the sweeter. So if you find yourself falling into sadness, just hold on tight and know you’ll be ok. We’re all stronger for it!

-Skipperstitch

Anxiety and sitting in a car.

Today was…..weird. the most likely thing to say is i had a few anxiety attacks as i went through the day but they were the kind that you dont really know are panic attacks until its too late to do anything about it. I found myself doing things that i so easily fall into when i get this way. I sat in my car for a few minutes letting the music wash over me. I thought of so many things i could be doing and how i must be failing hard if i havent gotten them yet. and maybe i pulled myself out of it. It hit me again later on but ultimately i was ok and im ok now at the end of my day. This is hard guys. if im being honest, i dont exactly know if im completely ok but i mean im stable i guess. just gotta get out there and keep moving. apologies for the grammer, at the moment, i couldnt care less. thanks for baring with me.

-Skipperstitch

(Artwork by Dmitriy Maximov)

My Story

I sit in traffic, listening without any thought or plan. It’s just another day. I tell myself this over and over like a mantra. Inside me, I feel a slight panic. Where am I going in this life? Time passes slowly and yet, I feel like I cannot sit in one moment long enough. Questions race through my head; “Am I good enough for my wife? Do my friends even like me? Does anyone even know I’m here? Why do I keep waking up in the morning?” The obvious thing to say would be that I live for my wife. I wake up to animate. I’m fine. I think. But it takes a while for any of the good to sink in. I’m too stuck in my own head to move on and before I know it, I’m walking back to my car. Terrified. Feeling horribly alone. Feeling like maybe, just maybe, everyone around me would be better off if I just disappeared. I can hear my wife in my head telling me that she loves me. That I belong. I can see and feel all the memories of hanging out with all my friends. But it feels like there’s a cloud there. A fog. I can’t really see things clearly. I remember things differently and everything morphs into something darker. I get angry, I get sad, I get frustrated, and tired all at the same time. And it’s like that almost every day. There are good days and there are bad days. and then there are horrible days where I feel paralyzed or like I’m on the outside looking in. When I’m with friends, I freeze up a little bit, unsure of whether I fit in. I become so engrossed in finding a way to feel like I’m ok, feel like I’m part of the group that even before I’m ok, the days over and I’m heading home. Then I’m hoping that they don’t think I hate them and it’s just my anxiety. I get home and obsess and then I force myself asleep just to do it again. There’s so much self-doubt in me that some days it gets hard to motivate myself just to wake up. I honestly don’t know if this is depression. I’ve never been to a shrink to figure that out. I’m scared to. I don’t want people thinking differently of me and people look down on those with any type of mental illness so yeah it is a bit scary. I’m hoping to finally go see a psychologist sometime in the coming months because I’ve started to get disturbing thoughts. That’s about all I’d like to entertain because they come frequently so anytime I’m not thinking about them, I’m glad. I hope I’ll be ok. Thanks for reading.

-Skipperstitch