Friends, Family and Carers, Fancy a Cuppa and a Chat, Connect now

@Blackcloud Hello lovely how are you? It sounds like it’s been a bit rough for you.

Yes it can be tough when trying to chat online. I know when I’m feeling like this it’s really challenging for me to keep a conversation going. Is this happening on messenger conversations? Or elsewhere? Either way I’m sorry it’s happening as I do understand wanting to have chats and company too.

The counselling appointment sounds like you were going over some heavy areas or topics with your counsellor. You may have had different idea to what you wanted to discuss I’m not sure. Therapy can be like that and it is hard doing that in an hour and then finishing up feeling depressed when it finishes. I’m not sure if any self care can help with the feelings?

Hi @Cuddlebear im not feeling the best right now. I was thinking of going out to buy a few things I needed but because of the strong wind we have right now I’m a bit hesitant to even though it’s only a few mins away from where I am.

The online conversations have been happening on this app called Spoony - it’s basically an app that’s for people who are neurodivergent but also those that have chronic health conditions and disabilities, so you basically just try and connect with others that might have the same conditions as you do. So I’ve talked to a few people on there so far and have already blocked 2 of them because they all don’t make the effort to keep a conversation going by just constantly responding to me in just extremely short answers… you can post anything on your feed, comment on others posts, add friends, private message etc.

yeah I already had different ideas that I wanted to talk to my counsellor about yesterday but the fact she had to start off the convo with “did you work today?” Was a bit unexpected

I just showered this morning even though it took me so long to get up and go shower because of the crying and the emotions I’ve processed since after that session.

@Cuddlebear @adding onto my previous post, I’m now just chilling watching ASMR related videos

@Blackcloud Big virtual hugs to you. It’s so windy isn't it. It looks like we will have a storm. If the shops are not too far and you need supplies might be ok to walk there. If you check the weather radar it can show you if it’s about to bucket down with rain.

Ah I’ve heard of Spoony as people I’ve met use it sometimes. It’s more a newer app I’m taking it? Have you found anyone on it that likes to engage? It’s hard sometimes to make those solid online connections and can make us feel sad and even frustrated when others don’t put in an effort.

Ah the counsellor was asking about work and I know that’s caused you a lot of anxiety through no fault of your own. I feel for you having this experience with an organisation that should be doing a lot better. A lot of people have had negative experiences with them. Was the counsellor empathetic about your experiences there?

@Blackcloud I also wanted to say I’m really glad you had a shower lovely. I’m sorry though you’ve been crying. I’ve been the same too so I can really empathise with the feelings.

@Cuddlebear ah ok, I've never heard of anything about checking the weather radar, but I'll definitely have a look into that. Right now it looks like it has rained and the wind is still going quite strong. Luckily I'm not required to walk anywhere under the trees when going to the shops cause any areas where you need to walk past the trees are the absolute worst areas when it comes to wind.

I don't think Spoony is a newer app? I think it's been around for quite a while but not exactly sure how long. Yeah I've found at least two people who like to engage so I'm able to easily talk to those ones - unfortunately one of them is on hiatus right now and I noticed the other day that she deleted all of her posts and has unfriended everyone including me - I do empathise with her on this though because she's been dealing with a lot currently (to be specific, she's been in a relationship with her boyfriend whose been nothing but abusive to her for a while) so I think its important that I give her some time without trying to bombard her with messages. Another one I'm talking to right now has just gotten a job that she applied for and if you compare that to me, I'm obviously the unlucky one because I'll NEVER be able to secure a job myself especially when there are NO jobs out there that fit my specific needs. So, Centrelink forever!!! (I hope I can be on the DSP forever though, except I wish my mum was out of my life so she won't need to care so much about wanting me to have connections and potentially have a partner - its not like she cares that much about it now but the future is what im scared of).

the counsellor I have is diagnosed autistic and ADHD so she provides a neuroaffirming support that's specifically catered to those that have these conditions. She was very empathetic about my experiences as she also wishes that services out there can be more open to allowing individuals to only use the chat function when they need to interact with people that need support, so the fact that there are placements and services that only require you to interact with clients face to face or through phone when it comes to a peer worker role is actually appalling in the sense that I always struggle with articulating my words when I speak to someone. So using online based communication has always been my forte cause I can easily come up with things to say without struggling.

@Blackcloud Yes keeping away from trees in this wind is a very good idea. They can be dangerous. The BOM has a live weather radar showing if rain is coming and how heavy it will be. It’s definitely not a day to be wandering out and about in Victoria. Weather forecast said thunderstorms and possible hail.

It’s good you’ve had a couple people to have proper chats with. I can understand why one of them has gone into hiatus considering the situation. Gee there’s a plague of violence against women going on in Australia and globally. I’ve experienced it myself and it’s awful and traumatic. I am really hoping this person can get away safely.

You never know there could be paid work for you as these days more and more employers do online web chats including in the not for profit sector. And more and more let you work from home too. I know it’s hard with accessibility in employment. I’m not saying there’s a bunch of jobs around. There should be but there isn’t. I just want you to have hope that something may in fact happen giving you an option for paid work. A lot of neurodivergent people find writing a better form of communication. Online chat functions give people access to socialising etc and I totally agree thwt peer worker roles should include roles where it’s online via web chats.

There’s many ways to have hope for the future too. There’s DSP is there and being productive doesn’t have to be only in a task like paid employment. You are already giving back to the community and thwt too is something awesome and very much needed too.

---

@Cuddlebear wrote:

@Blackcloud

It’s good you’ve had a couple people to have proper chats with. I can understand why one of them has gone into hiatus considering the situation. Gee there’s a plague of violence against women going on in Australia and globally. I’ve experienced it myself and it’s awful and traumatic. I am really hoping this person can get away safely.

I hope she can as well. I'm not too sure where she's currently at but I do hope that it's somewhere within the middle of her filing an IVO against her bf or something. Knowing Australia today the legal justice system is weak so its saddening and messed up how much the innocent citizens have to suffer because the system only favours the offenders over the innocent..

Yeah I haven't been volunteering at all for a while so I'm gonna see where else I can really head to now at the moment. I would kind of like to go back to volunteering at FoodBank but I need a support worker to come with me as I find that going alone gives me major anxiety than if I'm with someone else. I also hate using public transport really early in the morning and travelling to places that are far from where I live so that's another reason for that. I'm currently out of the NDIS funding at the moment and so I have to wait until my plan gets reassessed.

Hope you both stayed safe from what sounds to have been strong storms today @Blackcloud @Cuddlebear .

Sorry I haven't been on today; been busy keeping myself distracted.

I'm too exhausted to be able to put a proper full post, I'm hearing you both.

I haven't heard of the Spoony app, but I like the concept. I'm familiar with the spoony energy/capacity theory.it no doubt gets its name from.

Hope tomorrow brings calmer weather for you both.

 @AlwaysMyself , @Blackcloud , @Cuddlebear , @Chasingsunsets , @rav3n , @Healandlove , @Fullofhope79