It’s that time of week again, for me to ramble on about things, I never have any plan with these blog posts, I just start typing and see what appears on the screen, so you read whatever I happen to be thinking.
It’s been a good week, with a lot of different things happening, and there are a couple of things planned for the coming week, including me speaking at the Sligo Women in Business event. It’s going to be me talking about my mental health issues, and some of the things that help me.
I’m often told I’m brave when I write about these things, but the stigma will never go away if we don’t talk about it. I’m not brave, I’m just honest, and if me speaking up helps just one person it’ll be worth it. I don’t think there’s a family in Ireland that hasn’t been affected by mental health issues, it might not be in the immediate family, but you can bet that they have a friend or a relation who might be struggling with their mental health.
I met up during the week with Fran, who is one of the Sligo Women in Business Co-ordinators, and I really feel that she has my back, and she’s going to mind me, as this is my first time speaking in public, and it’s a very personal subject. I’m grateful for her support, and I’ve discovered in the past few months that you really need to look for the positive, supportive people, life isn’t a competition and the people who try to drag you down might not be the people you want in your life.
I was walking around Hazelwood this morning with a friend, it was an absolutely fabulous start to the day, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and we saw lots of dogs along the way, so I was happy out. The photo at the top of this blog is from Hazelwood, what a beautiful morning it was.
I was delighted to meet up with a blog reader on our walk, hello to Cora, and her sister. I’d put some paintings in to the Incognito Art Sale, it’s to raise money for The Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation. It turns out that Cora’s sister bought one of my paintings, and I’m thrilled. The painting was a version of the one above, I had great fun painting it, I loved seeing the characters come to life. This is the 4th year I’ve taken part in Incognito, it’s lovely to be part of it. Thanks to everyone who supports it.
After our walk I went shopping, and Leigh who served me in Aldi asked if I was the blogger, and said he likes the blog. It’s lovely to meet blog readers, and great to know that people (mostly) like my posts. I was chatting to creatives at an event during the week, and I told them that the block button has become my friend. I never used to block anyone, I used to try to reason with them, but it was starting to take its toll on me, and life is way too short for negativity, especially when it’s for a positive post, like me with a cow for example, and being called stupid for ‘photoshopping’ the cow. I don’t even know how to use photoshop! Anyway, I’ll stop ranting now!
Wish me luck for Tuesday, I’ll need it! I daresay they’ll be a blog post about it! Wishing you all a good week ahead, and thanks for reading.
Magnumlady Blog 
Best of luck on Tuesday Val, you’ll be grand.
Thanks so much, it all went well.