C-PTSD and Childhood Trauma

@Till23 exactly as @avant-garde described!! Play is just as important to our mental health as relaxation and rest 😊

I found a lil article about it if you're curious!! The Importance of Play

@avant-garde honestly that is SUCH a good idea!! Do you wanna kick start it?

Thanks @avant-garde and @Jynx

I will have to explore these options.

I think I’m not good at self care.

I coped by pushing through and trying to be successful in my job, so I could be self sufficient and not have to rely on anyone else. I found early on that many people weren’t reliable.

" Lawning the mow", as my nephew used to call it, is a good way to distract yourself. It's so therapeutic to have freshly mown grass.

Jobs jobs jobs... work to live and not live to work 🙂 @Till23

Yes @tyme I do like the smell of a freshly lawned mow. Also looks good and you feel you’ve achieved something.

I know many people say work to live, but working does have some good points- like earning money, sense of purpose, social interactions, sense of achievement plus for some people it’s a good distraction from their “life”.

Who know ls where I would have been without work.

Overall though it’s not good just to live to work.

@Till23 Yes what @avant-garde said re play.

I was/ still am pretty serious. Lots childhood trauma and being too responsible at young age. Yes WORK was huge and also largely beneficial in many ways… distraction, money, social contact and learning about life and the world…

to be able to be and feel playful… was a big inner shift and came late in life Eg late 50s.

guess I needed to be safe and secure… if the stakes are too high… the lightness of play won’t be possible… I know some people play hard… but that hasn’t been me.

and find my inner smile and relax and laugh… find things genuinely funny without too much ironic twist…

bit by bit… learning to think of jokes and laugh with people… getting more confident socially

lately… a couple of new kittens are helping me expand my playing… they are pretty good at it

also realising “play “ had been missing and keeping a lookout for moments

as a kid and teen I had been the butt of jokes so it took a while to unpack that and claim my ow sense of humour

@Jynx @tyme @Pinkcushions

@Appleblossom I did love playing with my dogs especially when they were puppies. Even when they were older they often give you a laugh.

I have “my” magpies that can give me a laugh.

@avant-garde and @Former-Member I do look at clouds and see animals and faces etc in them and actually do that with trees as well.

@Till23 @Former-Member

Gremmy and I both have a lot of socks, my current pair have playing card symbols on them

@Till23 have you seen my socks collection? I love wearing funky socks.

@avant-garde we do have alot of socks. Gotta love the sock collection 😂.

@Appleblossom thank you for sharing. Humour has often been brought up by our couple psychologist for my husband as a mechanism to help him heal.

I'm glad these strategies are working for you. It helps my husband too but he is very stubborn so progress is slow but it is there which is the most important thing.

Sending you hugs 🫂