Note to Myself
T-Shirts for those who are confortable talking about anxiety. notetomyself.ca/shop to purchase one.
28/10/2021
I've spent much time worrying about my career not advancing quickly enough which led me to prematurely give up on some pathways that brought much joy. If the future me could have visited the younger me, he would have said to be patient, stick with it, play the long game. In time you will get to where you want to be.
16/10/2021
Persist - Over the years, I've experienced a number of occasions where I wondered if I would be able to get back up and keep going. Thankfully, with the love of my partner, my family, and my friends, I managed to do so. I am so grateful for the support and love I have to keep going every day, you all motivate me to get up when I'm down.
04/10/2021
Keyholder - I find that if you lead a life with an open heart, it is much more interesting.
28/09/2021
With regard to anxiety management, I learned that setting and achieving small, realistic goals produce incremental changes that add up to real benefit over time. It's sometimes hard to see in the doing, but one day, the real change reveals itself as a new, healthier, automatic habit. That day is a good day.
My partner has asked me on several occasions when I am having difficulty, to recall the number of times my anxious imaginings were correct. I'm guessing you can imagine what my answer was.
This quote was inspired by a counselor who led a group therapy class I participated in. On a couple of occasions, he reminded us that when we imagine the worst-case scenarios, consider the probability of it occurring rather than the possibility. The logic behind it makes complete sense to me. I am keeping this one in my toolkit.
Art-making is medicine for me. When I am feeling on edge with worrisome thoughts, I often use it to change my mindset. It is sometimes difficult to put into action when I am in the deep end but for low to moderate levels of anxiety, art-making keeps me from spiraling. This illustration was a fun thought I had one day, a bit of a dad joke if I'm honest. 1970's Selfie. : )
For me, perfectionism mostly brought stress and unhappiness. I remember many occasions where I would kick myself because I made a mistake, usually something no one else would ever notice. But, I would obsess over the mistake and fail to see the success in what I accomplished. Those days were sad and exhausting. These days I try to remember that my best effort at any given point time is all I have to give, and that is enough. In other words, I've learned to be kind to myself.
This illustration is called “The One’r”, a term used in filmmaking that means a scene will be filmed in one take. I’ve worked in the film and television industry for close to three decades and this illustration is a visual metaphor that serves to remind me that I have one life to live and that I need to work at experiencing it in the present. If only it was so easy to set aside the worry about the past and future and appreciate the now. It’s a work in progress for me.
I learned some time ago that the amygdala is an ancient area of the human brain that is responsible for protecting us and that it triggers our fight, flight, or freeze response. Since I have experienced that response many times in my life I’ve come to recognize that I have intimate relations with this part of my brain. ; )
"Mixed Messages" represents the confusion I sometimes feel when listening to various media outlets and how they often completely contradict one another. It's hard to get the story straight sometimes.
When I fall into the trap of negative self talk, I try to remind myself that I can choose whether to believe or not believe what I am telling myself. This statement helps reset my mindset to a state of confidence.
By asking myself the question when I am anxious I am able to short circuit my looping thoughts and shift my focus away from my mind to my body. Doing this helps alleviate my racing thoughts.
This illustration is called Dark Fortress. For a period of time in my life, I had debilitating levels of anxiety where I felt trapped amongst dark thoughts that kept me in a hopeless state. My partner and I called that mental space a personal dungeon of self-torture. This image is a reminder of where I've been and how far I've come since.
Good times are fleeting, but so are the bad ones -
This quote was inspired by the idea that happiness can be fleeting. But if we consider the opposite end of the spectrum, sadness or troublesome episodes of anxiety, for example, they too can be fleeting and last for short periods at a time. So, I thought while we may feel disappointed about how short the bursts of happiness can be in life, we could also be thankful that anxious moments can also be just as fleeting.
The Middle Mask - As a person who can sometimes frequent the two ends of the emotional spectrum, I try to remain somewhere in the middle, in a place of contentment. This illustration helps remind me to keep at it and work for it.
Sit with the fear until nothing happens - This is a coping strategy that I have difficulty doing at times. The idea is that while my fears can make me imagine the worst outcomes, generally if I accept that I am afraid, observe my feelings, and don’t try to fight or push them away, the best outcome usually happens. Nothing. I realize that I am safe and the fear subsides. This is a tricky one for me to do, but when I manage to employ it successfully, it really helps me.
A thought is only a thought - When I am caught up with worrisome thoughts I try to remember this phrase. It forces me to recognize that my mind’s obsession isn’t the actual thing itself but rather my imagination of the thing. Making this distinction can empower me and help quell the anxiety.
Welcome to Note To Myself, a personal brand focused on producing designs related to anxiety and mental wellness. The process of creating these designs is a part of my wellness toolkit. The drawing and writing sessions help calm my thinking when anxious thoughts arise. My hope is that these images and words resonate with you. All the best to you!
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Brian
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