via James Pennebaker’s Opening Up: The Healing Power of Expressing Emotions

How do you know if you are insane?
Don’t worry.Other people will tell you  and even send a mental health team member.If you don’t want that to happen dress well,keep clean,eat and keep any wild or unusual thoughts private until you find a trustworthy person to guide you.If you can’t work  as  normal go to the doctor and   tell them .You will find help somewhere.. online forums?

How do I know if my anxiety is normal?
Do other people in the same situation feel anxious? Like before an exam or going tp a job interview?Even if it is  more than what others feel, you are probably a sensitive highly strung person who needs to relax and not be so self critical but that is not easy for everyone.I’ve been trying for 60 years ,so I should know!My first memory is of being in a pram with my two brothers,one  at the bottom end and the other next to me and they were fighting and tore a blanket in half.Then  when older they set my hair on  fire and poured the contents of the  baby’s potty  over me.And tried to drown me.So   being anxious is normal for me.Luckily no-one I know now has done any of the above.And if they tried I’d   feel justified in ringing 999.

Am I a wicked sinner?
Is there any other kind? We are all sinners some times.It depends on your attitude to that.As in the Pharisee and the Publican.Humility is all.

Is seeing visions a good thing?
It depends what they are.Seeing a mirage might keep you going for  longer when you may find a real oasis
If they are nasty, seek help.
Also, it might stop you living with real people  if you have visions of wonderful kind people that you fantasise about.Generally visions are useless unless they help you to lead a better, more involved life.And recall Joan of Arc…..If you are taking drugs maybe   you need help.It is ironic that lovely  visions may entrap you more than other kinds.Remember it takes effort to find God  or spiritual values

Photo by Jess Watters on Pexels.com

Photo by Jess Watters on Pexels.com

Diary-intolerant

https://www.commonspace.scot/articles/12689/320m-arms-sales-israel-2014-render-uk-complicit-gaza-atrocities-campaigners-argue

I can’t see for looking

Extract

Today at work I asked a lady to help me find something on our company’s website and she was trying very hard and at some point said ‘I can’t see for looking‘. I remembered hearing this idiom before and thought I’d mention it here.

If you can’t see for looking, it means that you have been looking too long or too hard and cannot see what you’re looking for.

Here are some examples (a bit random, I admit):

– Sometimes you can’t see for looking. What are you looking high and low  for at the moment which might just be right under your nose?  Perhaps it’s time to stop seeking, work on a different bit of your own jigsaw, and let that missing piece come and find you! (alivetochange.com)

The form of some art corresponds truthfully to some felt pattern of our emotional life In this sense every object with aesthetic import is potentially in tune with some elements of human feeling… every truthful work will be limited by its authors range of sensibilities, every truthful work will have its supporters because it resonates with them’. Kenneth Wright

My  early birth   meant I was at the breast
When Hitler died and left a world depressed
Since then we’ve had Korea,over-run
Palestine and Laos  Oh Saigon!

We seem to feel we’re  still the very best
Christians are most peaceful, what a jest
From early martyrs killed by Romans in their games
We reversed the process, now it’s we who maim

When did Jesus say he wanted Gold?
When Cathedrals, when portfolios sold?
Why his image on the Flags of War?
Why no love of others, nor their care

At heart we’re carnivores uncontrolled
We wear our masks of love, as guns are sold

I look up our small street,
To see if you are coming.
I don’t know what time it is,
But I think I hear you humming.

You sang sweet songs for us,
And you could whistle well .
You wore an old tweed jacket
You loved us,I could tell.

I look out there each day,
But I can’t see your tall, thin shape.
I saved your Woodbine packet,
It made me feel some hope.

What does death’s door mean?
Where has Daddy gone?
When will be the welcome day,
When we hear his songs again?

I’ll hum like him all day,
I’ll dream of him all night.
I hope he won’t be angry,
If his cigarettes won’t light!

He can’t write his own songs now.
He went too far away,too soon.
I’ll write down what I think he sang,
And I’ll invent the tune.

I hear him singing now,
He dwells inside my heart.
And though I still can’t see his face,
I recognise his Art.