Jude’s Jungle

sending you hugs @Judi9877 and sitting with you my friend 😍

@Judi9877 very hard for you.🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

Hi @Shaz51 @Meowmy @Faith-and-Hope @Jynx @tyme @rav3n @Ru-bee @Oaktree @Bunniekins @MDT @Snowie @Appleblossom @AuntGlow and all forumites here tonight.

It’s been a while since I last posted here and to be honest, life has been kinda crazy since my last post a year ago. This has included:

- Moving house to country Victoria thanks to a difficult landlord and even worse new property manager who made the whole move hell. Old property manager breeched several laws and has sent debt collectors onto us after us failing to hand her back the keys when my housemate was in ICU which she also sent this in a text to to my housemate. Again, hello legal issues!

- Got a new rental property in country Victoria but nearly lost it thanks to the behaviour of old property manager and the new property manager who thought they knew VCAT residential laws better than us tenants, even with a representative from the REIV to represent them - also failed - and we won. New property manager has been trouble from the start of the tenancy and has tried endless times to evict us - 3 times- and has lost all times at VCAT. This has also included the property manager lying about not receiving rent money from us despite us paying. There will be more trouble for them to come in the firm of tenancy lawyers at the end of the lease which isn’t getting renewed - got a notice to leave 2 weeks into the new tenancy back in December which is clearly retaliation and will be dealt with in due course.

- Became an unofficial carer to my housemate due to her having lots of physical and mental health issues ever since the move to the new location, including several mental health assessment orders being made for her and police/ambulance involvements- most recently this past weekend which was very full on for me to deal with. Luckily, I’ve been linked in with a carers organisation since March this year after being told about this at a PARCS admission for myself in late February/ early March.

- Discovered the art of diamond art/ painting whilst at PARCS which I’ve since continued and really enjoy. It’s also given me a link to my housemate who also enjoys this hobby which is great to have.

- Been on several holidays to Echuca, a cruise to the Great Barrier Reef including Cairns, Sydney, Airlie Beach and Moreton island and a carer respite. Heading to Bendigo next Monday for 4 days thanks to my housemate wanting to go there.

- Completed a suicide training course as part of mental health first aid training

- Applied for uni to study social work last Friday and got an offer this afternoon so as of next year, I’ll be moving back into student accommodation with my housemate who also got accepted into a nursing course at the same uni campus. Hello, social worker Jude hopefully at the end of 2029! My ideal job would be to work in mental health whether that be as part of a crisis team or on a ward or PARCS complex. If not, as a wellbeing officer in an education setting as I’ve always enjoyed education- a failed teaching degree over 20 years ago when I realised teaching wasn’t for me halfway through my first uni course. 2026 is looking to be a great year for this girl!
- Learnt more about my own mental health, especially in regards to distress tolerance skills, coping skills and communication skills which I’m proud of and know how to utilise better. Also gained a better understanding of the new mental health act here in Victoria and the difficulties carers face when dealing with mental health services, both from a community base and a hospital base.
- Continued to knit endless beanies for my old uni, charities and Ambulance Victoria. Add to this, blankets and kids/baby jumpers for charity and 2 new jumpers for myself with a new one on the go. Great for stress management and mental health! Also, did more crochet and rediscovered cross stitch.

- Fell in love with kookaburras despite having a fear of birds thanks to a country respite holiday in August and have now become the owner of a soft toy kookaburra.

- Celebrated Brisbane Lions winning their second AFL premiership in 2 years, despite not believing they could do it. Several games watched on tv and lots of emotions over the season expressed during this period!

- Explored new types of music artists to great success.

Life has definitely been a weird, wonderful, confusing, dramatic, scary, exciting place in the jungle over the past 12 months yet I’m still here and can say they that I’m loving life right now. Let the fun continue in the jungle!

Thanks for reading!

Take care and stay safe!

Judi9877

@Judi9877 hey Judi9877 strange i was thinking of you just the other day but couldnt quite remember your full name. wow you have had a busy time of it a few downs but ups as well. so good to see you. good luck with your uni course sounds fantastic. i hope it all goes well for you. make sure you keep in touch with us all. love bun xxx

@Judi9877

May I ask how old you are?

Thinking of tackling uni too but think it might be too late. I am 54

Wow @Judi9877 looking forward to being social worker Jude… is a great incentive

I never lived in student accommodation, but it sounds like a great outcome for you and for your friend. I hope having the focus and structure of study helps you both manage mental health ebbs and flows.

I know a lady who moved from lived experience to clinical work.

it’s the journey that matters so I hope you and your friend smell a few roses on the way.

@Oaktree @Shaz51 @Meowmy @Bunniekins

love your thread title…

🌿🌹🌹🐰🦊🐸🙈🦆🦋🐴🪲🐢🌳🌲🌴🪵

Hi @Judi9877

Thanks for the update. I love hearing about what is going on for you.

Your life certainly seems to be full on, with lots happening. I'm so glad that you were able to get some time away from it all. Those holiday places sound really nice.

Well done on getting accepted into your course. That should be really interesting to complete.

Thanks for posting here @Judi9877 and tagging me in! It seems like quite a while ago!

Thanks for the update. It's always good to get your updates.

Your achievements are phenomenal.

Hi @Oaktree

Thanks for replying to my post about my life and uni. To answer your question, I’m 48 and have a lived experience of mental illness. It’s never too late to do uni or any further education! 54 is still young and there are lots of older people that do both uni and Tafe studies. I knew of a student that started a nursing diploma at 63 and wanted to extend their working life which is why they chose the course. The best thing with uni is there are many options available to students depending on what course they want to study, including some uni courses that are all online and require limited time to visit the campus if at all during their degree. Some courses are harder to get into than others, like nursing and medicine due to limited places available, but there’s still lots of different courses to explore.

Judi9877

Thank you for the tag and the update my awesome friend 🧡 @Judi9877

Hello @tyme , @Snowie , @Appleblossom , @Oaktree