Night Shift

daffodil watercolour tattoo Thanks for that @Faith-and-Hope This one is stunning 🙂

Oh it seems to show a whole page of them when you click on that link. I like the one top row 3rd from left best. But I also saw several links saying they don't age very well. I have 2 tattoos already but can't show them on here as I designed them myself and they would identify me.

Your childhood sounds like what my mum went through growing up @eth, only her dad wasn't a hitter. Her mum had bipolar, and her dad worked away a lot on other farming properties they had. Divorce wasn't socially acceptable in their day, so marriage breakdown got handled in different ways. My grandfather had a tiny caravan, and parked it up on one of their other properties, so he wasn't living at home any more, but would visit, and that was good enough, even if friends and neighbours cottoned on to the fact that they were actually separated.

Gentle hugs for the bad things you experienced back then, @eth. My psychiatrist doesn't dwell on diagnosis but has mentioned trauma in relation to my condition too. I'm so glad you are getting to see the GP for a new mental health care plan. I hope that sleep is one of the main features of your new treatment. I obviously have my own problems with it but going on for long periods of time with only snatches of 1-2 hours here and there must be so tough on you. I'd love you to feel better. 🙂

I'm seeing my psychologist once every four weeks at the moment. She wanted more but I couldn't handle the intensity of it on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. She is treating me with DBT techniques, which is something I really wanted to avoid from the outset as it has a 'boot camp' quality that I find stressful. At the same time, I am seeing some results from the treatment so persisting with it.

@Faith-and-Hope, I have scars from surgery for crohns disease that I consider to be tattoos of part of my journey in life. Watercolor tattoos sound very beautiful though. I would love to see some of your artwork. Feel free to post it here any time you feel inspired to do that. I find the community supportive of each other's creativity. 🙂

I have tried to do a copy and paste @Mazarita but it hasn't worked. I might have to play around a bit to find out what does work ...

What's DBT stand for @Mazarita? I suspect my Mum is undiagnosed bipolar 2 to this day (now 75). There are many signs of it with her based on what I have learned over the last 7 years.

@eth, DBT is Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, most commonly the standard treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder but it is applicable to other conditions too. I also believe my mum may be Bipolar (aged 80). She has mellowed with age but swings from very loud extroverted behaviour with strangers and friends alike to sleeping for many hours a day when alone. She has also chain smoked the whole time I've known her and has pressured speech that can go on for hours if you don't stop her, which is very hard to do. She has mellowed somewhat with age and I love her to bits but we have also had a difficult relationship throughout our lives.

@Faith-and-Hope, if you'd like to share images, go to the little B&W icon above the reply box that is square and looks like a mountain with a sun. There you will find options to upload and post images to the site. I can give more detailed info if you still have trouble doing it.

@Former-Member my name is short for 'ethnobot' as I used to have a Happy Herbs business specialising in herbs from indigenous sources around the world around 12-15 years ago(such herbs are known as ethnobotanicals). (Trained as a herbalist and massage therapist in my 20's) I used to use that name in a couple of online forums for poetry too. Then at one stage I found out my kid and their mates were referring to me as 'eth'. That was several years ago, but it just felt good to 'own it' again and use it here. The picture is a lotus and I saw exactly that colour one only yesterday at a friend's place. They bloom up here at the start of the dry season, which it is now.