Dear Reader,
The overall title of this blog of mine is ‘How to Avoid Knackering Yourself’ - what I have come to call 'Personal Ecology' coaching. I will focus my attention on two main areas:
- Clinical depression - its meaning and its impact
- Coaching - its relevance and its applicability.
I don’t pretend to be an expert in anything but knackering myself is something I am spectacularly good at – so much so that I ended up two years ago with a complete crash, a blunderbuss of a break-down, a disastrous derailment. In the process I have learnt a few valuable lessons that I will share with you in this blog.
I cannot promise you that I will always be interesting, or even relevant, but I do promise you this: I will always be truthful, authentic, and slightly irreverent towards myself because, even if the subject matter is important and can have some very serious repercussions, I know that a good sense of humour underlined by the ability to not take oneself too seriously is indispensable to any lasting healing.
Format-wise I will keep each blog entry to the approximate length of a page of A4 text. My reason is two-fold:
- I dislike what I call 'rambling blogs' myself, and I quickly lose interest in them
- Not everybody can, or desires to, spend hours reading blogs every day. Therefore a few minutes reading-time is all that will be required for each entry.
The only exception is 'Shocked Back to Life' which was written as a supporting document rather than as a blog entry and which will eventually be moved from the front page.
I consider your comments to be part of what makes my blog in any way valuable. Please feel free to contribute openly and honestly. Thank you.
Lastly, I now wish to pay tribute to my husband Richard without whom this blog could never have been, for two reasons:
- I would not have made it through the last two years without his constant love, understanding and support. My husband is my Heart on Legs. His very presence is soothing and reassuring to me.
- This blog could never have been without his technical wizardry. Many people refer to IT specialists as ‘geeks’, often in a belittling tone of voice – I believe it is because they find genius unsettling. I have lived with my husband’s genius for twenty years now and I have always found it awe-inspiring.
So, thank you darling for being who you are.
The Lost Watch
16 August, 2008 - 19:12 — Gabrielle
I have the great privilege of knowing one of the top coaches in the UK - better still, I have the greater privilege of calling her my friend: Lynette Allen. All you women out there, I strongly encourage you to get in touch with Lynette (and no, she doesn't pay me referral fees :0). read more »
Back to the Future
16 August, 2008 - 15:44 — Gabrielle
I love the above emoticon my son drew for me for two reasons: read more »
Sock it to them...
10 August, 2008 - 12:49 — Gabrielle
I have not done any blogging for a while and you know why? Because I have been busy knitting socks! read more »
Tolerance
22 July, 2008 - 23:08 — Gabrielle
"Being an orchestral musician means you have to express yourself to the utmost while simultaneously listening and responding. That's an important skill for conflict resolution - and for life". So speaks Daniel Barenboim. read more »
The Observer vs The Visionary
19 July, 2008 - 11:29 — Gabrielle
For some reason, I felt attracted to re-read 'Ask and It Is Given' by Esther and Jerry Hicks. Those of you who are familiar with these authors' work on The Law of Attraction will recognise the irony in my statement :0) read more »
Changing Change
18 July, 2008 - 15:22 — Gabrielle
Having just come back from a lovely pub lunch with my hubby, I was struck by a thought: change was something I had always made numerous assumptions about. This sudden 'revelation' led me to explore the change territory further.
This is what I had hitherto assumed about change: read more »
Silent Night
9 July, 2008 - 11:39 — Gabrielle
Last night I forgot to take my medication. That's a rare occurrence and, as a result, I found myself fully awake at 2.00pm. I knew something wasn't quite right because I didn't have my familiar 'drugged' feeling. I didn't feel woozy and I could move without stumbling about like a drunk person. I got out of bed and walked down our two flights of stairs to the kitchen to correct my 'mistake' and take my tablets. Suddenly, something struck me: the house was dark and quiet. read more »
Slipping Standards
8 July, 2008 - 20:43 — Gabrielle
Let me be honest here: I often feel frustrated by all the things I can no longer do. I feel like a useless lump on a regular basis and I catch myself getting on my own nerves more often than I care to admit. Having said that, there is humour in every situation and I am amused by the new standards I have been forced to adopt.
My new yardstick for achievement isn't what it used to be, that's for sure!
These days, I feel I have something to be really proud of if: read more »
Awareness vs Mindfulness
6 July, 2008 - 10:08 — Gabrielle
My counsellor J has just started studying for a qualification in CBT - Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. My psychiatrist has referred me for CBT so I am very interested in it, both from a personal perspective and from a professional one. There is a very long waiting list for CBT within psychiatric care so this is yet another good opportunity for me to exercise patience... read more »
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