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Laura

Battery Saver

It was Adam who recognized the state we were in. “We’re living in Low Power Mode.” It’s true. Some pretty basic tasks have been disabled to save power for the things we can’t survive without. But unlike a phone, we can’t just plug ourselves in until we’ve charged enough to leave Low Power or Battery Saver Mode. Humans are more complicated. I wanted to do a quick roundup of the things that keep a human battery charged, in my non-expert opinion, and see where I’ve… Read More »Battery Saver

Love It or Hate It

I have a complicated relationship with my voice, which I don’t think is uncommon among singers. In fact, I think a complicated relationship with your skills and talents is not uncommon regardless of what they might be. Sometimes I love my voice. I can hear power and strength, softness, tenderness, clarity. I can hear all the work I’ve put into learning how to use it. I can hear the emotion I’m trying to convey. And I really, really love it. Other times I hate my… Read More »Love It or Hate It

Slippery Slope

Have you ever run down a steep hill? Maybe it was a sidewalk, maybe it was a sand dune. Maybe it was a grassy knoll. Doesn’t matter, the principle is (more or less) the same. When you’re running down a steep hill, you’re never really totally in control. Maybe your heels are skidding as you try to keep from falling over. Maybe you’re running faster than you really intended to because, well, gravity, I guess. Maybe you can see that when you get to the… Read More »Slippery Slope

Stickers

We bought stickers from one of those custom branding places where you upload your logo and you can put it on all kinds of merchandise. We just thought, “I wonder if we could get stickers printed,” and then we did. Three sheets of twenty. We had a coupon code and took it out of the EP budget and in the grand scheme of things it wasn’t too bad. Why do we need stickers? Well, officially, we’re going to stick them on all our equipment and… Read More »Stickers

Inspiration

I’m pretty sure that somebody said that the first rule of inspiration is to be there when it happens, but my skill with Google is insufficient to track such a quote down. Let’s say, I may have been the originator of the sentiment, and if I was, I’m both impressed and disappointed. It’s true though, isn’t it? Unusual things happen all the time, and usual things happen even more often. But if somebody’s not looking at the right spot in the right light at the exact right… Read More »Inspiration

Pills, Pills, Pills: In Defence of a Complicated Medicine Cabinet

This week will be devoted to my decision around medication as it relates to mental health (or rather, mental illness). I know that some people don’t think any people should do that, and I have a problem with that attitude. I’m not talking about someone experiencing depression or anxiety and trying to decide for themselves whether or not it’s in their best interests to medicate (under the supervision of a doctor), because honestly, that can be a complicated decision. But I am talking about people… Read More »Pills, Pills, Pills: In Defence of a Complicated Medicine Cabinet

Holidays, Nostalgia, and Grief

There’s something about holidays that calls to nostalgia. And among holidays, for me, Christmas is the one that stirs up memories like more or less nothing else. And then those memories set off other memories and… well, I cry a lot around the end of the year. Nostalgia, my quick Google search tells me, is widely considered to be a good thing nowadays. It promotes all kinds of good stuff in the psyche. I won’t summarize the research because better sources already have (heck, Wikipedia… Read More »Holidays, Nostalgia, and Grief

What a Difference a DX Makes

I see a lot of complaints about the DSM1. And honestly, a lot of them are valid. I get it. There are a lot of issues with it. I would not be uninterested in a discussion of alternative systems. But that’s not my topic today. No, today I want to explain why I am happy, for now, to be diagnosed according to the DSM. Because the reality of my situation is that, without it or something very much like it, I would likely not be… Read More »What a Difference a DX Makes

DOWN HERE and UP HERE

There’s a problem I’ve had for as long as I’ve been seeing psychologists. I learn a tool, and it’s very helpful for analysing my problems, but when I’m in the midst of having said problems, I can’t access the tool. I think of it like this: I keep all my tools neatly organized on this level down here, but in the heat of the moment I am up here and I can’t even SEE my tools from up here. In the slightly more descriptive version: I store my tools… Read More »DOWN HERE and UP HERE