Tag: podcasting

It’s been a long time…

…but not that long.

I’m back now and that’s what counts.

Besides, I’ve been unable to blog for various reasons.

Sounds like it’s time for an update!

What’s new with me

I think that I told you about leaving my job a few months ago due to health problems relating to my Crohn’s. Well, that’s been an ongoing issue with a bunch of other problems that go along with it, like mental health. That’s been a major struggle.

I have an app to track my mood and activities on a daily basis, which is really helpful for me. I can look back at the past and see trends in a colourful graph with information that connects activity and mood. The app is called Daylio; I highly recommend it to anyone who’s interested in understanding their mental health and mood. It’s not a complete solution, but it’s a great tool. The best part is that it’s well designed, free of ads, can be used for free, and when you pay for it, it’s a single, one-time purchase. So good.

Anyway, the past several weeks have been not so great-looking in my app, with some really bad days. Depression has been a constant companion for me, which isn’t fun or easy. Panic attacks, lack of motivation, and no interest in doing “normal things” have become the norm. Don’t get me wrong, there’ve been some great things happening too. But overall I’m feeling not so good.

Which brings me to another not fun thing that’s happened. My partner had to go back to the States for the summer. Which isn’t fun either. Especially in a city with not many close friends.

There’s also good news!

On the flip side, I finally FINALLY have a family doctor!! 🙌 It’s taken so long for this, but it’s finally here and it’s just so helpful and good for my continuing medical care.

There’s a clinic that is one SkyTrain stop away from my house that recently had two new doctors move in… and they have been accepting new patients! Which was such a relief, let me tell you. Although, the process was kind of underwhelming… I was expecting more issues getting a family doctor. Like it ended up being too easy.

I filled out the attachment request form, or whatever it’s called, they called me back, setup an appointment, and voila! I have a doctor. Simple, easy, peasy. Glad that it wasn’t more of a pain to do that. So YAY! 😸

I also have a counsellor that I don’t have to pay for out-of-pocket. Which is amazing and really quite timely with all of these long-term mental issues coming at me full force. Things really have worked out as I always believe they will. It’s just difficult to deal with my obsessive brain panicking and whatnot.

Good times!

So yeah, things have been very wild these past few weeks! There was also a little thing with my blog’s domain name expiring and I couldn’t renew it right away, but now that I have, I’m back to blogging weekly. Yay for rebuilding the writing habit!

I think it’ll be good for me to get back into my blog. Gives me something to focus on that’s not too strenuous and a good creative outlet that feels good on my brain. So get ready for more posts from me!

Oh yeah…

I also started recording a new podcast with a friend here in Vancouver, which just rocks. Every time that I’ve done a podcast it’s been with people across the internet, which is amazing—don’t get me wrong. It’s so wild that I can do podcasts with people who live across the continent from me. I love it.

It’s nice to be able to do a project like that with someone in person. So this has been a real treat! Especially since we record at the Vancouver Public Library’s studio space. Such a fantabulous resource.

We haven’t quite published the podcast yet… but it’s coming very soon. I’ll keep you update.

Anywhom!

That’s all for now. Tune in next week to hear me giggle like a hyena! 🤣

A new week!

So last week went fairly well. Especially goal-wise! Huzzah and Wooton!!

And now for my report card on how I did this past week. I’ll try to not be too hard on myself (after all, these are goals to push myself forward), but still make an honest assessment.

Last week’s ‘getting back on track’ goals.

1. No technology after 10:00 pm – B-

I did not too bad… at first. On the weekend I slid a little bit, but that was partially due to not feeling great and having a hard time sleeping. But I feel great with how I did and especially with the results of cutting back on night-time technology use. I found that it really helped me get ready for bed way earlier than I usually do.

2. Walk the dogs daily – A+

The muppies were so excited about getting daily walks again! Well, more like beyond excited. Especially once they figured out that there was a pattern developing. They wouldn’t have let me forget about this goal even if  I wanted to. I really enjoyed the time outside in the dark night. Even if it was -30° C for a couple of days.

3. Keep a positive attitude – A+

I excelled at this one, as expected! 😛 Now I’m using it to artificially inflate my overall score for this week, thus making me feel better about my goal-setting and achieving powers.

Overall score: A

Yay for new goals!

1. No technology after 10:00 pm

I’m gonna stick this one in here again and probably keep it around until it becomes more of a habit.

2. Work on plans for the fall

I had intended to use February as a planning month to figure out what I will be doing after Paddlefest and my summer trip. I have made almost no progress on doing this, and so with the last week of February upon me (eek!), I decided to make this one of my goals.

3. Finish editing and release podcast

I started editing The Cowmoonity Fancast on Saturday, but I didn’t get to finish it over the weekend for various reasons. It needs to be done this week for sure, so to the list it is added!

4. Eat more often

I have been having tummy problems the past few days. Recently when that happens, I’m finding myself eating very little. This isn’t good, especially for my energy levels. But when I am having tummy issues, I find that it’s better to eat smaller amounts of simpler foods more frequently throughout the day. That is what I need to start doing again.

5. Bonus! Write at least two blog posts

I’m not going to require myself to complete this goal this week, especially since the other goals are more important. But I wanted to add this one as a little bonus thing for myself.

And there we go! I was thinking of adding the dog walking in again, but I feel like that’s quickly becoming a habit that I will keep up.

Wow, five goals this week. Until I sat down to think about my goals, I had no clue that was going to happen. But, onward and upward!

Creatively energized!

This past week, we, the patrons of Blimey Cow, released the first episode of our new podcast, The Cowmoonity Fancast. It’s been over a month in the making and I’m really quite pleased with how it turned out! Especially the music! Which is kinda what this post is about.

In the past few weeks I’ve been having this weird creative dry spell, while simultaneously being filled with inspiration and creative juice. I have ideas and “aha” moments, but no energy with which to express or actually make these things happen.

But this week, when I was working to finish recording the music, something just… clicked and voilà! I got into quite the creative mood! So creative that I stayed up a bit later just to keep creating, including recording a new text tone based on the computer system from Rescue Heroes.

I write about this for two reasons:

  1. I have challenged myself to write a new post every day.
  2. Creative energy is weird. There are days when you are overflowing with it, and others when it has all dried up.

And it’s frustrating when you want to be creative, but can’t. Or you can, but find that your heart isn’t in it. So it feels… almost fake, or not quite fully legitimate. If that makes sense. You know?

Anyway, I’m really thankful that I was able to get into a good creative mood to finish the music for the podcast! Hopefully this energy will stick around for a while.