Common House Residents Journal #11: 2014-11-30

Entry #: 11
Journal Type: inworld
Date: 2014-11-30
Replies: yes
Author: Cecil
Trigger Warnings: chronic health issues, some talk of death and doom

Carlos and I got some very... exciting and surprising news this weekend. I'm going to keep the details a secret for a bit longer, but I'm kind of having mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, it's neat and something I want. On the other hand, all my chronic pain issues are flaring up because of this and it's emphasizing the bad parts of the experience.

Carlos is... distracting himself with science, but i kind of expected him to do that. He's been very busy documenting a highly time-sensitive project an alchemist and a witch are working on to try and make a synthetic mirror of this potion some folks call "Water of Life" that only works at reviving some people in-system so that it works for everyone because some parts of our inner world are more dangerous than others and it's nice to have a working Plan B if things go wrong and also because one of the residents is very ill and they're trying to see if they can revive him IF the inevitable happens because he has a family.

(x-posted from Plurality Resource Forum)

Common House Residents Journal #10: 2014-11-04

Entry #: 10
Journal Type: mixed
Date: 2014-11-04
Replies: yes
Author: Carlos
Trigger Warnings: SI [mentioned, non-graphic], triggers, anxiety, mental health, some ribbing about coping techniques

Last month was weird in both good and bad ways.

One of the residents inworld kind of accidentally triggered me a few weeks ago with some blatant disregard about SI-stuff.... At least people have told me he doesn't always have control of those filters. They've been working on it. He did make it up to me though. We fashioned the usual Halloween remembrance circle into an all-guilds masquerade with a Days of the Dead theme since he kind of ruined inworld game night's LARP by giving me a panic attack that lead to a second one because people were crowding me. It was kind of embarrassing and I'm still getting a bit of bleedthrough on the anxiety coming outworld. I've been doing some research on science while we write our NaNo because I really want to try to make a Science Fiction Science bingo on that card in allbingo. Cecil keeps giggling about "science as comfort defense mechanism" since DreamWriter started calling it that on Sunday after the conference teacher said "if you're stuck on characterization, you should think about characters as people and people are essentially a set of unique defense mechanisms for how to cope with the world. what drives stories and makes authentic characters are the moments when those mechanisms crack". Even though I know it's true and Cecil and DreamWriter mean it in the nicest possible way, it kind of makes me feel underappreciated (just a little bit).

The body rarely stims (I've been told repeatedly that other fronters have attempted to get the body a HFA/AS diagnosis [our formal dx is "Learning Disorder NOS, nonverbal deficits" to us it's mostly semantics; nonverbal disability tends to have a lot of overlap with AS], but between clueless parents, our interest in people, and the fact that we've apparently been passing since grade school we apparently don't qualify enough or something) but since I've been fronting it's more pronounced and more frequent (though some of the stims the body has are different from what I would do personally... like the toewalking). At least I can pretend I'm shaking/massaging our hands because our wrist brace is missing and NaNo apparently makes us really prone to carpal tunnel and ulnar nerve entrapment.

(x-posted from Plurality Resource Forum)

Common House Residents Journal #09: 2014-09-14

Entry #: 09
Journal Type: outworld
Date: 2014-09-14
Replies: yes
Author: Carlos
Trigger Warnings: none

So I just did a science experiment with the body and peanut butter. It seems like one of the other people's theory is pretty sound: it's either the sugar, the molasses, or one of the vegetable oils in Skippy brand peanut butter that makes us dizzy. Natural peanut butter didn't do anything...

It's not going to change the fact that most people here still probably won't eat peanut butter sandwiches, but at least now we know that it's definitely something in the processing additives that makes us dizzy.

(x-posted from Plurality Resource Forum)

Common House Residents Journal #08: 2014-08-20

Entry #: 08
Journal Type: inworld
Date: 2014-08-20
Replies: yes
Author: Carlos
Trigger Warnings: none that I know of

It's been a while since anyone has posted over here. I'm new to the system and here with my boyfriend as well... And I am so glad I have my allergy medicine here. There are way too many cats and they use the lab space. Where am I supposed to work? I should probably ask that Angel (I'm pretty sure he identifies as an Angel even though he names himself after a Corvid).

At least this place is just as scientifically interesting as the last two places I've been. :) though science seems to work a little more normally here, even if this world seems to work within a "your science is our magic" trope.

(x-posted from Plurality Resource Forum)

Oracle Readings Received: June One Card Draw (June 30th 2014)

from ariestess's June One Card Draw
She used the Gypsy Fortunetelling Deck and I asked for general guidance.

Your card :: 4 of Clubs [reversed]

This is an excellent time to take inventory of your goals. Where can you adjust your timeline to be more flexible about end results? Do you have contingency plans in case something goes wrong along the way? If not, take the opportunity to make them. You never know when you'll need a backup plan.

100 Things We Have Or Want To Add To Our Self-Care Toolbox: 002. Reflexology

100 things we have or want to add to our self-care toolbox (AKA 100 Coping With Life Tools)

002. Reflexology

Ok, disclaimer here: I AM NOT A DOCTOR nor A PROFESSIONAL and if you have a major health issue, you should consult with a doctor, first before using reflexology.

Some major health issues -- for example: CFS/Fibro, diabetes, and any conditions being treated with blood thinners, may require you to be VERY gentle especially when dealing with areas that are trigger points. 

Reflexology is a type of body work using the reflex points on the hands and feet that involves thumbwalking. It relates to zone therapy and with the right practitioners it can be very nice and relaxing. 

I learned this through a class through BU's Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation's Recovery Center's Recovery Education Program. 

It's ideal if you can soak your hands or feet in epsom salts beforehand (or an exfoliating foot or hand scrub). Just no lotions - slippery feet and hands don't work very well with reflexology. I usually do this first thing in the morning after my shower. 

When you finish, drink lots of water and if you want you can put lotion on your feet/hands.

100 Things We Have Or Want To Add To Our Self-Care Toolbox: 001. Paper Chain Diary

 100 things we have or want to add to our self-care toolbox
(AKA 100 Coping With Life Tools)

001. Paper Chain Diary

This is actually a mix of a couple tools that we found works wonders together and it is also one toolbox item that doesn't require many spoons. We can do this in about a minute before bed and it's wonderful.

It's a heavily modified version of The Paper Chain Project (which is usually used for recovery from self-destructive habits)

Our version is mostly for tracking our mindset mostly and as a record of days. And we've only just started doing one of these outworld. :) I'd like to get back into doing this, but i need more colored paper again.

color chain links are for good days
white chains are for bad days

And on the link, we write at least one of the following -
1. Something we want to congratulate ourselves on from that day
2. Something we're grateful for from that day
3. Something we want to work on the next day