#YourLifeMatters: this year at @Govins Farm, the corn maze message centers on suicide prevention. 🌽 @800273TALK #govinsfarm #cornmaze #suicidepreventionlifeline #suicideprevention https://t.co/BnPvyLA2Ky via @usatoday
— Rader Ward Foundation (@RaderWardFound) August 6, 2019
Mario Monday: girls make games
happy chocolate chip cookie day!
sharing kind words with strangers
Reminds me of the Don’t Give Up Signs movement!
keep growing, sprout!
new resource: grassroots suicide prevention
Click for information on the Stay Alive app: Apple or Google Play.
happy birthday, Harry Potter!
It’s Harry Potter’s birthday! Harry’s story played a prominent role in my kids’ childhood. I read all the books aloud to them, having read them all myself already. We threw an elaborate Harry-Potter-themed birthday party when our eldest turned 11 (the age at which magical children receive their Hogwarts letters to commence their wizarding education). That party is where all the pics but the birthday cake art come from.
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The first movie was released when Rader was a baby, but by the time the last movies were coming out, we could take the whole family to midnight showings, sometimes in costume. (The kids were too little, but I attended a couple of midnight book release parties as well.) We even spent a night in a Harry Potter hotel (Georgian House - Wizard Chambers) and a magical day visiting the sets of the Making of Harry Potter at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London when we were in the U.K. in 2015 (totally worth it; you should go).
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Birthday cake art by NyaaSlade at DeviantArt
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#happeebirthdaeharry #potterday #harrypotter #harrypotterbirthdayparty #closetunderthestairs #hedwig #owls #harrypotterhotel #harrypotterhotellondon #georgianhousehotel #warnerbrosstudiotour #themakingofharrypotter #nyaaslade #deviantart #cakesbyhagrid #theboywholived
an in-depth look at senior suicides
mario music monday! super mario 64: slider
let it go
seniors, too, are at risk for suicide
what is the goal of grief work?
The following thoughts are from Megan Devine of Refuge In Grief.
Have you heard #grief referred to as #work? What’s the goal of “grief work”? Is there even a goal?
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So often in my early grief, I reached for the writers and teachers that had guided me in my Before life. Time and again, they wrote about “doing the work” – showing up, dealing with what has been given to you. Finding your way through.
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So many of them, in various ways, seemed to insist on my finding the strength to overcome obstruction, to open myself to that which had been closed, or that which felt closed in me. And grief, clearly, was an obstruction. I hated this stuff.
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While all of their suggestions worked on normal life, my life was no longer normal. This kind of pain is a whole different animal. And pain, as we know, is not a problem: it’s a response.
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Working to get rid of grief was never something that sat right with me. But isn’t there something we’re supposed to do in this? Well – yes.
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Here’s what I’ve learned over the years about the true work of grief: The “work” of grief is not to make it go away.
The obstacle on your inner road is not grief. The obstacle is the very natural reaction of shutting down in the face of pain.
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The challenge, then, is to stay in your heart. To stay present in your heart, to your heart, to your own deep self, even, and especially, when that self is broken.
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In his video introduction to the Hanuman chalisa, Krishna Das says: “we chant to bring us strength: the strength to overcome all obstructions, all problems, anything that is in the way of us accomplishing our goals. And of course, the ultimate goal is to open our hearts.”
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The ultimate goal is to open our hearts. The ultimate goal is to keep our hearts open when slamming them shut makes more sense.
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If I think of the real work of grief as doing whatever I can to keep my heart open, to feel and to face every stitch of both pain and love, without somehow abandoning myself in the process, well – that’s “work” I can get behind. That’s work I understand.
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How about you? How do you view the work of grief? What ways have you found to keep your heart open, when for all the world sometimes, it just wants to close?
Posted @withrepost • @refugeingrief
going to go back there someday
celebrate self care day!
feel it to heal it
Vincent Acovino loves Super Mario Maker 2
meet Victor Armstrong
listen: stop, drop, and roll for suicidal crisis
be here tomorrow
I have the honor of telling my story this weekend at a suicide prevention event organized in my hometown by a friend I grew up with, Lori Armstrong.
"Be Here Tomorrow" will feature Lori's brother, Victor Armstrong, as keynote speaker.
Victor is vice president of behavioral health with Atrium Health, based in Charlotte. He has dedicated his career to building and strengthening community resources to serve individuals living with mental illness. Victor speaks nationally and internationally on suicide awareness, particularly as it relates to underserved communities.
The event takes place from 2-5 p.m. Saturday, July 20, at Plymouth Church of Christ, Plymouth, N.C. There will also be a panel discussion/Q&A. "Be Here Tomorrow" is free and open to the public.
