BLOGMAS 2019 – POST TEN : CATS PROTECTION TYNESIDE ADOPTION CENTRE CHRISTMAS EVENT | CATS PROTECTION | AD

Thanks to a poll on my Twitter back in November, my wonderful followers decided that I should publish a blog post and film a vlog every day for the entirety of December! 

So welcome to December 10th…

You know me, so focused on mental health content that once again, I won’t be doing a typical blog post about the event!

At the event, they had a table of cat toys and stockings for 8 cats so that people could buy toys and choose a cat to give them to. Obviously; me being me(!), I decided to buy a toy for each cat and then asked if I could give them their presents personally! In doing so, I fell in love with one of the cats; Sheba. She was fourteen, all black, and very very fluffy! When I gave her a cuddle she started purring and when I loosened by hold on her to let her jump down, she just stayed there in my arms. I was saying to one of the staff that whenever I visit the Centre (and it’s been quite a few times now) I always say ‘I wish I could take them all home’ but I’ve never been so eager to actually do so! So, they put a reserve on her! The one thing holding me back from taking her home right there and then was that she has a thyroid condition and so there was going to be monthly vet bills that I wasn’t sure I could afford. Anyway, it’s because of Sheba that I’m going to take this opportunity to talk about impulsivity.

BLOGMAS 2019 – POST NINE : NUDGE CARDS | ETSY COLLABORATION | AD

Thanks to a poll on my Twitter back in November, my wonderful followers decided that I should publish a blog post and film a vlog every day for the entirety of December! 

So welcome to December 9th…

Today is all about my collaboration with one very special brand on Etsy, in this post I’ll be reviewing the products they sent to me and on December 23rd you can enter a competition to win these products and the remaining six that I’ll be reviewing every other day this month!

The fourth product in the collaboration are the fantastically cute and useful Nudge Cards by the appropriately named company; Nudge Cards(!) who are based in Hull, England.

I thought these Nudge Cards were perfect for me because I find that when my mental health is poorly, I struggle to remember the healthy and safe coping skills I’ve been taught. It’s something that – I think – isn’t unique to me though, so in choosing these cards I hoped they would help others who are also trying to cope with this.

BLOGMAS 2019 – POST EIGHT : STIGMA & MISCONCEPTIONS | BEAUTY & THE BEAST PANTOMIME | IN COLLABORATION WITH THE THEATRE ROYAL NEWCASTLE | AD

Thanks to a poll on my Twitter back in November, my wonderful followers decided that I should publish a blog post and film a vlog every day for the entirety of December!

So welcome to December 8th…

I struggled to think of a subject to write about in this post because as usual, I won’t be doing a review of the pantomime. Like I said in Wednesday’s Jack And The Beanstalk post, there are so many media sites doing an awesome job at publishing straightforward reviews that I don’t think you guys need another one doing that! Also, this is first and foremost, a mental health blog so telling you my favourite parts of a pantomime would be completely irrelevant!

For those who don’t know the story of Beauty and the Beast; it begins with an enchantress disguised as a beggar lady. She approaches a Prince and offers him a rose in return for allowing her to sleep in his Castle to escape the storm. When he fails to look beyond her appearance, she casts a spell on him which turns him into a Beast and tells him that unless he meets true love before the final petal falls from the rose then he’ll remain that way forever. And then ‘Beauty’ comes along in the form of a local village girl! And that’s all I’ll say because I don’t want to spoil it for those who haven’t seen it!

I guess the point of the story is not to judge a book by its cover, through not holding a preconceived idea of a person and seeing beyond a person’s appearance by appreciating their personality and who they actually are. It’s also about being kind to others and treating people how you would like to be treat.

Here’s – what I believe – are the five most popular misconceptions in mental health and what people should know to eradicate these beliefs:

BLOGMAS 2019 – POST SEVEN : THE LITTLE PIN CO.| ETSY COLLABORATION | AD

Thanks to a poll on my Twitter back in November, my wonderful followers decided that I should publish a blog post and film a vlog every day for the entirety of December! 

So welcome to December 7th…

Today is all about my collaboration with one very special brand on Etsy, in this post I’ll be reviewing the products they sent to me and on December 23rd you can enter a competition to win these products and the remaining seven that I’ll be reviewing every other day this month!


This third product is a lovely little pin badge which reads ‘Brave and Strong’ from the very aptly named The Little Pin Co. who are based in Porthcawl, Wales.


I think that a bit of a big worry in mental health at the moment is that it’s becoming ‘trendy’ to have an actual mental health illness; granted, it’s mainly about Anxiety - with so many well-known people speaking out publicly to say they have experienced panic attacks. To be honest, I think my train of thought is that at least mental health is being talked about!

BLOGMAS 2019 – POST SIX : CHRISTMAS DRINKS WITH THE CREATIVE WRITING CLASS

Thanks to a poll on my Twitter back in November, my wonderful followers decided that I should publish a blog post and film a vlog every day for the entirety of December!

So welcome to December 6th…

A little while ago, I enrolled on a Creative Writing course through Northumberland County Council and have been thoroughly enjoying it – to the point where I was genuinely devastated when the Tutor called in sick one week!

I took a Creative Writing course at Bradford College while I was an inpatient in a psychiatric hospital down there and really enjoyed it and not just because it was much-needed time off the ward; but because it gave me the chance to do something I really enjoyed with like-minded people.

Ever since I was really young, I’ve enjoyed writing; obviously at first it was more about short stories with horses in every single one than deep and meaningful mental health blog posts but still, it was writing! Even before the abuse - in my happy, innocent childhood – I enjoyed the escapism and having the ability to get lost, or even just distracted, with the life of someone or something else. I actually enjoyed writing so much that one of Middle School teachers predicted that I’d be a Journalist when I grew up!