WEEK TEN | 52 LISTS OF HAPPINESS | OLIVER BONAS | AD

You can buy this book here

Every week, for 2018 there will be post of what I’ve done in the book each week. And the tenth list?

List the ways that you feel lucky:

WEEK EIGHT | 52 LISTS FOR HAPPINESS | OLIVER BONAS | AD

You can buy this book here

Every week, for 2018 there will be post of what I’ve done in the book each week. And the eighth list?

List the things you like to do that don't involve technology:

WEEK SEVEN | 52 LISTS FOR HAPPINESS | OLIVER BONAS | AD

You can buy this book here

(Apologies for the delay in publishing this post!)

Every week, for 2018 there will be post of what I’ve done in the book each week. And the seventh list?

List the greatest compliments and encouragement you have ever been given:

THREE SONGS THAT I LIVE BY

Music is, in my opinion, one of the most powerful, influential, and incredible things in life. It can influence your mental state in the most obvious of ways; you could be feeling really sad and listen to an upbeat, motivational song and it has you up, out of bed, and smiling. Dancing, even! Or you could be dancing and singing loudly in the shower when a sad, moving, song jumps into your Spotify playlist and all of a sudden, you’re remembering a difficult time in your life when all of these heart-breaking lyrics applied to it.

WEEK FIVE | 52 LISTS FOR HAPPINESS | OLIVER BONAS | AD

You can buy this book here

(Apologies for the delay in publishing this post!)

Every week, for 2018 there will be post of what I’ve done in the book each week. And the fifth list?

List the best choices you have made in your life so far:

THRIVING & SURVIVING

'Good mental health is more than the absence of a mental health problem. This Mental Health Awareness Week, we are going to look at mental health from a new angle. Rather than ask why so many people are living with mental health problems, we will seek to uncover why too few of us are thriving with good mental health.'
2016/17

For me, I see 'thriving' as the times - moments in life when you are doing your absolute best. When you're happy. When you're loved. When you are comfortable. When you have your head to yourself. When your mind has gone quiet. When you aren't in pain. When you don't want to be in pain. When you're glad you're breathing. 



THREE MOMENTS WHEN I WAS 'THRIVING'

HOW COMPARISONS CAN STOP YOU FROM REGRETTING | MY TRIP TO SCARBOROUGH WITH RONNIE

I’m no travel blogger; so I figured that to tell you guys about my recent trip to Scarborough with Ronnie (my Fiancé), and show you some of the many photos that he took, I’d talk about something the trip taught me: mistakes and regrets.

That sounds bad.

And it did when I said it aloud to Ronnie.

Let me explain…

27 THINGS I'M THANKFUL FOR | MY TWENTY SEVENTH BIRTHDAY!!

1.     My Mum

      2.     R

3.     Dolly

4.     Pixie

WEEK FOUR | 52 LISTS FOR HAPPINESS | OLIVER BONAS | AD

You can buy this book here

Every week, for 2018 there will be post of what I’ve done in the book each week. And the fourth list?

List the things that get you out of your head:

PARTYING WITH INTHEFROW, ALEX HARRISON, & GOOGLE PIXEL!! | AD

Friday 20^th January 2018, 09:43 - ‘Congratulations Aimee your Saturday just got awesome… You and your named guest are now part of a chosen few to joing us in celebrating the all-new Google Pixel 2 with InTheFrow at our Manchester event this Saturday’

Like most girls, I like fashion.                            

It was because of this, that I began to follow InTheFrow (Victoria McGrath) on YouTube. And - not going to lie - I was kind of mesmerised by her bright purple hair!

HAPPY 29TH BIRTHDAY RONNIE | A COLLECTION OF MEMORIES WITH MY FIANCE

Before I get started on this post, you might want to read this post from 2016 where I talk about PDA and my thoughts on talking about my relationship online.

To mark my Fiancé, Ronnie’s, Twenty Ninth (he’s going to kill me for saying that!) Birthday; I figured I’d do a post on all things ‘A&R.”

WEEK TWO | 52 LISTS FOR HAPPINESS | OLIVER BONAS | AD

A little while ago I was wandering around Oliver Bonas in their Euston store in London and came across this little beauty…

You can buy this book here

Every week, for 2018 there will be post of what I’ve done in the book each week. And the second list?

The routines in my personal life & work:

HOW TO AVOID DRAMA: FAMILY, WORK, HEALTH, RELATIONSHIPS & FRIENDS

Photography - R J Photography

drama

ˈdrɑːmə/

noun

noun: drama; plural noun: dramas

1. a play for theatre, radio, or television.

"a gritty urban drama about growing up in Harlem"

2. an exciting, emotional, or unexpected event or circumstance.

"a hostage drama"

It’s an understatement to say that while I was being abused, my behaviour changed dramatically - I think it’s an obvious one though… Keeping abuse a secret can cause a lot of conflicting thoughts and feelings; a lot of pent up anger and frustration.

For me, I was angry that no one could see what was going on. How could no one see beyond my actions? My behaviour? It was labelled ‘dramatic.’ I, was labelled a ‘drama queen.’ Since then if anyone has called me that in jest or in banter then I’ve thought straight back to that bullying in High School while I was abused. Back to when I took my anger out on the teachers who were meant to have the authority to stop this sort of thing. On everyone in the one place that is meant to be safe for children and young people.

WHAT I GOT FOR CHRISTMAS 2017

  Photographys: RJ Photography

As you’ll have seen from my post ‘ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS… YOU GUYS’ I was a little hesitant about Christmas this year. Last Boxing Day we lost the family cat suddenly and so I was a little concerned that it might be difficult to get into the Christmas spirit, but it was surprisingly easy to allow myself to enjoy the Holidays.

CHRISTMAS Q&A WITH MY FIANCE RONNIE SKELTON, MECHANIC & PHOTOGRAPHER | 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS WITH I'M NOT DISORDERED

It’s a special time of year and so, to celebrate it, I wanted to do something special on I’m NOT Disordered for Christmas. I have decided to bring back the Christmassy Q&A I put together last year with the questions being from a YouTube video and have posed them to many different people from all of the country and doing all sorts of jobs, in all sorts of roles, living all kinds of lives!

So let’s kick off the last part of the series: Day Twelve of 12 Days of Christmas with I'm NOT Disordered with the answers of my fiancé Ronnie Skelton, qualified mechanic and photographer.

1.    When do you start getting excited for Christmas Day?

WELCOME TO THE CHRISTMAS Q&A SERIES | 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS WITH I'M NOT DISORDERED

It’s a special time of year and so, to celebrate it, I wanted to do something special on I’m NOT Disordered for Christmas. I have decided to bring back the Christmassy Q&A I put together last year with the questions being from a YouTube video and have posed them to many different people from all of the country and doing all sorts of jobs, in all sorts of roles, living all kinds of lives!

So let’s kick off Day One of 12 Days of Christmas with I'm NOT Disordered with my answers to the Christmassy Q&A:

1.      When do you start getting excited for Christmas Day?

THREE SPECIAL MOMENTS FOR THREE YEARS IN MY 'FOREVER HOME'

Today, (December 8^th) I’ve lived in my home with Dolly for three years.

I actually moved in on December 1^st, 2014 but Dolly wasn’t ready to leave her Mum until the 7^th so it didn’t really feel like ‘home’ until she joined me!

I remember when my Out of Area Care Co-ordinator, Janice, called me to say that they’d found a bungalow that I was eligible to move into and she asked if I wanted to go and check out the area with her. There were two bungalows on the Close empty, so we weren’t sure which it was but seeing that one was on the end and nearest to the local park I hoped it was the other one! While the bid was in for my home, she called me to tell me of another one that was available, but it wasn’t in a nice area. A little while later and I was sat on a bus with my Mum when Janice called and told me not to worry about this second home. I asked why; “because you got the one you wanted!”

I had the keys before my move-in date so that furniture could be delivered, the whole house be decorated, and the floors fitted. But it was such a relief to finally leave Hospital and move into, what we called it at the time, my ‘Forever Home.’ I didn’t, for one moment, imagine that I’d be sat here three years later engaged to the love of my life and talking about getting a house together!

To mark the three-year anniversary, here’s my top three favourite moments in my home in this past year:

TWO YEARS 'TIL WE MARRY & ONE YEAR SINCE THE PROPOSAL

In exactly two years (22^nd November 2019), I’ll be standing at the front of a church telling my soul mate “I do,” love him and will continue to for all eternity.
And tomorrow will be the one year anniversary since I said ‘yes,’ I’ll make that promise, and say those vows, and wear that beautiful princess-cut diamond ring.

Forever and beyond

That’s how long I’ll stay

How long I’ll love you

With the promise not to stray

I’ll be by your side

When times get tough

Through the good and the bad

When things are rough

I can’t imagine life without you

I hope I never do

I’d much rather think about

The moment I say ‘I do’

Northumberland, Tyne & Wear NHS Foundation Trust Staff Excellence Awards 2017 | Ad

#NTWStars

I'm not going to lie; when I received an e'mail to say that I was a finalist for the Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (NTW) Staff Excellence Awards, I did send some messages, make some phone calls and do some Google searches to check it was genuine. I hadn't heard of the awards; and so I had no idea how I could possibly be shortlisted for one, or who would even nominate me for one... But I was in the category 'Positive Impact'; defined as being 'for someone who is not paid by NTW but has made a remarkable contribution to the Trust or to mental health and disability awareness in their community.'

The nomination:

Aimee was diagnosed with a personality disorder after being sectioned aged 18. Forced to fight against a downward spiral in her health, she began to blog and has been looking forward ever since. Only six months after being discharged, aged 23, she got her own flat and really grabbed the future with both hands. Her blog, I’m Not Disordered, has a huge following and helps other people struggling with their mental health to know they are not alone and people can fight back from the brink. Aimee speaks openly and frankly about her background, as well as her bright future, balancing the two to inspire others and encourage improvements in the system. She now works closely with NTW, Time to Change and Northumbria Police to turn her experiences into positives for those who come after her.

The Things Turning 26 Made Me Think About [MY BIRTHDAY]

                               

Turning twenty six kind of caught me by surprise...

Obviously I dont mean that I forgot it was going to happen! It was just that I was hit with the realisation that it would be completely normal for me to start thinking about - and talking about - time frames (not sure if that's the best way to phrase it) for a lot of the important milestones in life: a house, marriage, and babies!

I think that a huge factor in making this such a shock, was the amount of time - years; I've spent, being convinced that I had no future because there were so many times when I'd do something that could, potentially, make it impossible.  

All of these professionals; Psychologists, DBT therapists, Occupational Therapists, Community Psychiatric Nurses (CPNs), and pretty much every member of staff whilst being an inpatient with Cygnet; would be asking me to think of goals. They'd have this generic 
form that demanded five short-term goals and three long-term, how they could be achieved, and by when I would like to have achieved them. Of course I understood that the purpose in doing this was to give you motivation on days when you felt hopeless; but, realising that for me, at that point in my life, 'short-term' meant however many hours were left in the day; and 'long-term' was within a week, it made me feel even less hopeful. 

My life was like that for such a long time that finally being able to say 'in the next few months I'd like to...' or 'in a years time I'd like to...' was overwhelming! This might sound strange to some of you, but; accepting that you have a future... It's - not hard... But... It's not how some people might imagine that straight away it's like 'yay! This is so good!' I feel like this is an aspect of mental health recovery that you might never think of or consider unless you're told or you experience it; because, in all honesty, it threw me off a little bit. It made me embarrassed; feeling that I now had to almost play catch-up with my friends. Those I'd studied my A Levels alongside were on the verge of becoming fully qualified Lawyers [the career path I'd planned to take] and those who'd gone on to do an apprenticeship were now permanent and full-time employees. And if I wanted to stick to the whole 'Law-route' thing then I'd need to re-sit all of my A Levels before I could even start considering University.