Wednesday, 11 November 2015

TV Opportunity

Yesterday
I was contacted by a lady called Natasha 
From a production company called The Connected Set
She informed me about an upcoming programme they are making about eating disorders 
And asked me if I could share their information on my blog
To see if anyone is interested
Below is her contact information 

--
Do you suffer from an eating disorder?
Are you willing to share your experiences with the nation, working alongside fellow sufferers in a unique one-off television programme?

We're looking to speak to present sufferers of disordered eating conditions including anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, emotional over eating, orthorexia and other related conditions, to take part in a unique psychologist facilitated TV format combining group therapy with cooking.

If you are over 18, live in the Republic of Ireland, and are available for filming in Dublin the week before Christmas then we would love to hear from you.  

We are looking to bring awareness to the problem of eating disorders across Ireland in a responsible and medically safe way.  If you're interested in finding out more please drop us an email with more information about yourself and your contact details.

Contact details:
Natasha Mwansa
The Connected Set

-- 
Natasha Mwansa
Development Team, The Connected Set
office: 020 8617 1744
address: UGLI Campus, 56 Wood Lane, London W12 7SB
twitter: @theconnectedset  
For more casting opportunities Like our TCS Casting page
Sign up for the TCS quarterly newsletter here


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DISCLAIMER: This email does not constitute any kind of contract (explicit or implied) between The Connected Set Limited and the recipient. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent The Connected Set Limited. Such communication is outside the scope of the employment of the individual concerned. This e-mail (and any files contained within the email) is confidential and protected by copyright (and other intellectual property rights). If you are not the intended recipient please e-mail the sender and then delete the email and any attached files immediately. Any further use or dissemination is prohibited. Computer viruses can be transmitted by Email, it is your responsibility to ensure that this message and any attachments are virus free and do not affect your systems / data. Communicating by email is not 100% secure and carries risks such as delay, data corruption, non-delivery, wrongful interception and unauthorised amendment. If you communicate with us by e-mail, you acknowledge and assume these risks, and you agree to take appropriate measures to minimise these risks when e-mailing us. The Connected Set Limited, registered in England and Wales, company number 7439728.

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Outside

A few months ago
I saw a photo on Facebook
It was of an old woman
With a quote beside it
I can't remember the quote exactly
But the essence of her message has stayed with me ever since 
And that message was
If you just go outside wonderful things can 
You never know who you might meet
What might happen 
If you just step outside your front door 
The possibilities are endless

For a long time
I used to get up before dawn
At 6am
Sometimes 5am
To get everything done early
To walk my dogs 
Do my shopping 
Which was usually binge food
And when I saw I did my shopping 
I mean that I stole my shopping 
It's hard to imagine being in thdt place now 
I can't fathom stealing anything now 
But back then 
I was in a dark place
So yes
I got up early 
To avoid people 
To avoid having to talk to Anyone 
To avoid life 

Back then 
I usually arrived home before 9am
And depending on the day
I would either spend the day drinking
Or abusing prescription drugs
Or bingeing and purging 
It was a relentless attack on my self 
I stayed in my living room all day
Watching TV
Zoning in and out of consciousness 
Sleeping my life away 

Today 
My life is different
Now I don't make myself get up so early 
I get up at about 8am
I do t go crazy trying to get everything done
I take my time 
Walk the dogs 
Do my bits and pieces 
Go in to town 
Meet a friend 
Live my life

Today is a great example of how going outside is good for the soul
Honey has a sore paw, poor love
So myself and Lea headed out in the car
We parked in the village 
And walked down to the wooded area beside the woods
There we met a woman with a beautiful little shitzu 
We spoke for a few minutes 
About our dogs 
Until Lea barked and wanted to go
Having a dog is a great way to meet people I find 
I love talking about my dogs
And I love talking to people about their dogs 
Yesterday I was down at the lake
And when I got back to my car
Someone had left a packet of dog treats under the wiper of my car
How nice was that!

After our walk 
I decided to go for a swim
I've recently started going back swimming
I stopped going when the weather got really bad last year
And once you stop going 
It's hard to go back
But with my sisters help
I started back last week
And am thoroughly enjoying it again 
While in the pool
I met a woman who I used to meet last year
We had a lovely chat 
About anything and everything
After 100 lengths 
I left the pool feeling great
Squeaky clean
Like I had done a really good work out 
I came home 
Had my breakfast 
And felt like I really earned it

This is just a small example 
Of how if you go outside 
Wonderful things can happen
Often times 
The biggest battle I have 
Is getting off the couch
And out the front door 
But once I am out 
I am always glad I made the effort 
Whether it's going for a walk 
Or going to a meeting 
Or meeting a friend 
It's always worth it 
I know it can be tempting 
To stay in doors 
Especially during these cold months 
But if you go outside 
Even just in to town 
Or the local shop
You never know what might happen 
Or who you might meet 
It's the same with writing this blog
Because I put myself out there 
In a very public way
Amazing things have happened since I started writing this blog 
The best of all being that I have made the best of friends 

I have a feeling at the moment
That good things are on the way
Got so long
I had this horrible sense of impending doom
I felt like something awful was going to happen
And it often did
But for me and my family
Things are beginning to turn around 
As you know 
My family has had more than its fair share of trouble and stress
I grew up in an unhappy home 
With a horrible atmosphere 
And addiction 
I lost my way for a long time 
And at one point 
Four out of six of my family were in active addiction
I can not describe to you how miserable those years were
But now 
The four of us are in recovery 
And I can't remember a time when things were better
My family are closer than ever
Even though my parents are separated 
We still all meet up regularly 
And my Dad often stays here 
When my Mum was working
My parents used to swap houses during the week
A strange concept I know
But it worked for them

I am so grateful that my family is now on the mend 
And in a good place 
God knows we have been through the wars 
Now we get on
We laugh 
We meet up regularly 
We support each other 
And love each other through the ups and downs of life 
As my Mum often says 
Given what we have been through 
We are not doing too badly 

Again
I feel grateful today 
For my life 
My family 
My dogs 
My friends 
I feel so blessed to have been through addiction and mental illness 
And made it out the other side relatively unscathed 
I get on with every member of my family 
And have never been so close to them
Even though I live with my Mum
It feels more like I share a house with her 
Rather than like living with a parent 
I love living with my Mum
We get on so well
And enjoy each other's company
Then there is Honey and Lea
The light of my life 
They bring so much life and energy and fun to our house 
They are getting older now 
They are both ten
But they are still as lively as ever 
And I love them to the stars and back

So today 
I urge you to go outside 
If you are struggling 
If your mental or physical health is not great 
If you are battling mental illness or addiction
If you feel depressed
Anxious 
Or even suicidal 
If you are afraid 
Afraid of others 
Of life 
Of yourself 
If you feel trapped 
Like there is no way out 
Like you are struggling 
Drowning 
Falling apart
Breaking in to pieces 
If you don't like yourself 
Hate yourself in fact 
If you just want to hide away in your house 
If life has beaten you down 
And you feel like you want to give up
Please 
Go outside 
For for a walk 
Talk to a stranger
Smile at someone 
Acknowledge someone 
You never know what might happen
Who you might end up speaking to
Wonderful things can happen 
If you just make the effort to get out there 
Out in the world 
With others 
You never know what might happen

Do it
Do it today 
It will be worth it
I promise you.....


Tuesday, 10 November 2015

Way back when.... Part 2

Where was I?
Oh yes
I had spent two weeks in hospital 
And was being moved to the local psychiatric hospital 
I really didn't want to go
But what was the alternative?
Go home and continue on my path of self  destruction?
Again 
I didn't have the energy to put up a fight
So on the Sunday evening
After tea (Scrambled eggs and toast if you are interested)
I packed my little bag
And my father came to take me on the short trip to the hospital
It was a menacing looking place 
I didn't have a good feeling about it at all
All I could hope is that I wouldn't be there very long 
We were ushered in
And left to wait in an office for what felt like hours 
Mid wait
A student nurse and a patient came in and used the weighing scales in the corner of the room 
The patient was talking a mile a minute
And when she saw me, she said
'Don't worry young one, they'll feed you up in here, you'll be fine'
I was too scared to say anything
I just wanted to run out of the building and away from this place and these people

Eventually 
I was officially admitted
I was given a little room of my own 
I was so glad I wasn't sharing a room
Then I ventured up to the smoking room
There were a few women sitting in there 
I walked over 
And asked for a light 
A girl with a shaved head stood up and stuck out her hand to me 
I shook it 
She was also talking at great speed
There were a few characters 
All chain smoking and drinking tea 
There was a group 
Huddled over by the window
And a couple of women sitting on their own at the side 
Strangely 
I didn't feel afraid anymore 
Girl with the shaved head took me under her wing 
To me she seemed the most sane out of everyone 
But that didn't last long
It was when she started telling me that she had no asshole that I realised that she wasn't quite as sane as I thought

Everyone commented on my weight 
It seemed that this was a place where everyone said exactly what they thought
And again 
I got the feeling that staff didn't quite know what to do with me
They did lay down some ground rules for me though 
I had to be escorted to the bathroom
I couldn't go to the bathroom for an hour after eating 
And after eating I had to lie down in my room for an hour 
I rarely kept to the rules though 
And I refused to have someone escort me to the bathroom 
I did lie down after meals though
But then started the disgusting habit of purging in to plastic bags and hiding them in my wardrobe
I would lie on my bed at night
There was a a small window in the door of my room
Sometimes I would look up
And there would be two eyes staring in the window 
I put my head under the covers
And pretended that I was at home

There were so many characters in the hospital
There was the hospital bully
The same woman who weighed herself when I was waiting to be admitted 
She was loud and brash
And insisted she was only in hospital to get dental work done 
She preyed on the more vulnerable patients 
Although she left me alone 
Probably because I had family and friends in every day 
Some patients had no body 
I remember being at dinner one day 
The bully ordered one of the more quiet women to get her something 
I piped up and said no get it yourself 
She wasn't used to people standing up to her 

There was the woman with severe mental and physical disabilities who lived in the hospital
She would howl in the night
She must've been in such distress
The staff were pretty awful to her
I heard one asking another if this woman took sugar in her tea
The other staff member replied that 'it didn't matter'
I can clearly remember thinking that I'm sure it matters to the woman whether there is sugar in her tea or not

There was the English girl 
Who barely spoke a word
She had a personality disorder 
And thought she was Angelina Jolie
She had been admitted after trying to take out money out of the bank in the actresses name
The bank called the police
And she was brought to the hospital
She had a boyfriend that called up to her every evening 
They had met in hospital 
They sat wrapped around each other
The staff constantly telling them to stop
Then at Christmas 
The boyfriend arrived up to the hospital dressed in a tuxedo with a flower in his hand 
He came in to the smoking room 
Got down on one knee 
And proposed to Angelina
It was surreal to say the least

There were many others 
The girl who had post partum depression
And sat in the corner knitting all day
She was a nurse too
And the staff were lovely to her
There was the girl who every time she went out, she brought the TV remote control with her
That used to drive me mad!
There was the petite blonde from Dublin who had repeatedly tried to kill herself 
Then there was the lady who I saw in the doctors yesterday
She was admitted just before Christmas 
She had three kids 
And a husband who was not very nice to her
I remember the day we put up the Christmas decorations
This lady dressed the tree so beautifully
She also used to help in the kitchen 
She seemed to like to be busy
She was quiet 
Gentle 
Really pretty 
When I saw her yesterday 
She had gained a lot of weight
No doubt from the olanzapine she was almost definitely on
The doctors seemed to put everyone on it
And a lot of people in that hospital were very over weight 
But seeing this lady yesterday brought back a lot of memories 
So I guess that's why I'm writing these posts 
It was eight years ago now 

I remember the staff and patients has Christmas dinner 
There was a fizzy Apple drink on the table
And I remember some of the patients thought it was wine
I remember going home for Christmas 
And my sister and mother dropping me back to the hospital two days later
I remember looking out the window 
They were both in tears in each other's arms 
It broke my heart 

After Christmas 
I got word that a place in treatment had become available for me
I went home the night before I left 
That was the worst time I can remember in my ED history 
Thankfully 
That is all in the past 
And hopefully it will stay there 

Monday, 9 November 2015

Way back when....

As you know by now
Monday is doctor day for me
It's good really
As it gives my day some structure 
And keeps me accountable where drug use is concerned 
And I always enjoy the little chat with my doctor
Which most of the time is not about medical issues
This morning he was unusually late 
So it was 10am by the time I got to the chemist
As I was a sitting waiting to see my doctor
I saw a woman I thought I recognised 
She was walking away from me 
So I didn't see her clearly 
But then I saw her in the chemist 
She was sitting down 
I caught her eye 
And she smiled 
Did she recognise me too?
I'm not quite sure 
I walked the length of the shop
Trying to figure out where I knew her from
She had a kind face
But looked so very sad
And you just wanted to give her a big hug
And tell her it will be ok
Then it hit me 
I knew I knew her from somewhere 
She was a patient in the same psychiatric  hospital that I was in back in 2007

2007 was a really bad year 
I was dabbling in buying prescription benzodiazepines 
And I hit an all time low weight 
I was in poor physical health 
But had no idea how dire my predicament was
I was working 
How, I managed to hold down a job I do not know 
I was running off of fumes 
I  was 25 

I was feeling so bad back then
That one day my mother insisted I go in to casualty 
I didn't have the strength to object
So I agreed 
I have vague memories of a drip being fitted
Various medical staff trying to talk me
But I was just a shell of a person
Their words bounced off me without any impact 
I was eventually moved to a ward 
A private room in fact 
I remember asking for sleeping tablets 
And more sleeping tablets 
Which they gave me
I was in a state of semi consciousness
And thoroughly enjoyed it
I was mainly left to my own devices
Didn't eat a thing
They didn't seem to know what to do with me
Or how to deal with me
I was discharged a week later
Only to be admitted again soon after

This time was different 
There seemed to be a plan in place 
I later heard that days before I arrived
A young girl died from anorexia 
So they took my case very seriously 
I had done as assessment for a treatment centre 
So I was trying to hold ground until a place came up
I remember being taken to a ward
I was weighed 
I then heard a nurse gasp and say I was 34 kilos
It meant nothing to me
I was beyond caring about my weight
There was just nothing going on behind my eyes 
I was dead inside 

I was moved to another ward
A health care worker sat with me 24 hours a day 
I saw the psych team
The dietician 
The social worker 
I was in an observation ward
And was escorted to the bathroom 
But even so 
I managed to purge 
To hide food 
Slip my Ensures in to the bin
It's amazing how devious a person can be when they put their mind to it 

I remember the student nurses 
They were lovely 
They sat and spoke to me
Encouraged me
Yet I felt that staff were wary of me
That they didn't know quite how to handle me
They wouldn't let me walk anywhere 
I had to sit in a wheel chair to go for smokes 
I had no idea that I was so ill and underweight 
And wondered what all the fuss was about 
One of my tricks was to use the bathroom downstairs to purge 
When family members brought me down there 
One day a student nurse followed me in
And interrupted me mid purge
I was mortified 
Back up on the ward 
I saw the same nurse wiping away tears 
But I had no idea why I had upset her
It's only now 
Years later 
That I can see how that incident could have upset her 

A week later 
And a place in treatment still hadn't come up
They were discussing the fact that I was on methadone 
And whether they could accommodate that
So it was decided that I would be moved to the local psychiatric hospital
I was terrified at the prospect 
I pictured films like One flew over the cuckoos nest
And Girl interrupted 
But the general hospital wouldn't keep me
And my family wanted me to stay safe until a place in treatment came up
Life in the general hospital was fine 
I spent my days resting 
Spending time with family 
Reading and writing 
I was content to be there 
As I was still managing to engage in behaviours
I was weighed every second day
I gained a minute amount in the couple of weeks I was there 

This post has become longer than planned
And I haven't even written about the last I saw today yet
So I will split this post in to two
And take up where I left off tomorrow
To be continued....


Sunday, 8 November 2015

Hello hello!

It seems that blogger has gone a bit quiet again
There are the same core group of writers 
But it seems every day another blogger drops off the face of the blogosphere 
Please let me know if you are there
If you are reading 
If not commenting 
If you are lurking 
If you are dropping in every day
Or from time to time 
If you are struggling 
Struggling to hold it together 
Struggling with your ED
Addiction
Depression
Anxiety
BPD
Or some other mental illness 
If you have all but given up hope 
If you can't see a way out 
If you are falling with out a safety net
If you have surrendered to your demons
If you can't face another day
In this head
This body 
This life 
If you are afraid 
Terrified of life without your crutch 
If your thoughts torment you
So negative 
And so destructive
If you can't ask for help
You want to
But you can't 
If you feel like giving up
Because you don't have the energy to keep fighting 
If you feel beaten down by life
By your illness
If you are thinking of disappearing
Because you believe you are nothing but a burden
If you are holding on by your fingertips 
Slipping everyday
If you are frustrated because people presume thdt you look well so you much be well 
If you have a passive death wish

But also if you are in recovery 
If you are fighting back 
If you refuse to give in to your demons 
If you are fighting for a better life 
For you and your family 
If you have been knocked down 
But you keep getting back up
Dusting yourself off
And start again 
If you are in treatment 
Inpatient
Struggling to meet your goals 
And regain weight 
Or if you are outpatient 
And trying to recover with the support of home and your family and friends 
If you believe that there is life after addiction and ED 
If you are working to regain weight
Maintain weight
Or lose weight 
If you have slipped or relapsed
And are trying to get back on track 
If you believe you deserve better 
If you want better for yourself 
If you want to like
And even love yourself 
If you want to live 

Let me know 
Who you are?
What is your story?
Where are you in your life?
Why do you read? 
What do you want out of life?
And recovery?
Let me know you are out there....

Saturday, 7 November 2015

Interview

A while ago
I was contacted by a lady called Angela 
Who writes a blog called Fucking awesome bulimics I know
Angela found my blog through the Healthline compilation
And contacted me to ask me if she could interview me for her site
We were emailing back and forth 
She is in New Zealand 
And I am in Ireland
So we arranged to Skype today
Her evening 
And my morning at 8 30am
I literally woke up at 8 26am
So I jumped out of bed 
And turned on my laptop 
My face wasn't washed 
My hair wasn't brushed 
But I had no time to do either 
So I just rubbed my tired eyes
And hoped I didn't look too sleepy 

It was great speaking to Angela 
She is smart 
So funny 
Honest 
And so real 
We laughed a lot 
Which was great 
As I think it is so important to retain a sense of humour 
No matter how bad things get 
We talked about my childhood
Her childhood
When out EDs started and how
Family background 
Treatment 
The media 
Social media and the effect it has on us as eating disordered women
We talked about therapy 
Mary 
Angela's therapist
I couldn't believe it when I said goodbye and looked at the clock and saw it was 10 30am
We had been speaking for two whole hours!
It didn't feel like that at all though
I thoroughly enjoyed chatting to Angela 
We had a lot in common
And so much to talk about 
Angela recorded the conversation 
And will type it out 
And post it on her blog
So I will let you know when it is  published 

In other news 
There was great excitement here yesterday 
As we got the news that my brother has signed a two book deal with the publishing house Picador!
The same people who publish Cormac Mc Carthy, Toni Morrison, Colm Toibin 
We are beyond happy for him
He has worked so hard 
And he deserves every bit of success he achieves 
These are exciting times for him
He already has one book ready to go called Ithaca
And now has to write another one 
It's really inspiring to see how far my brother has come 
He worked for years as an accountant 
And gave a reliable and comfortable  life up to follow his dream of being a writer
It just goes to show 
Hard work 
And bring a nice person
Does pay off 

There has been a lot of talk about writing books here on blogger recently 
I know Piggy is writing one
And also Miranda
I guess it makes sense that a lot of us bloggers want to write books 
We write every day on our blogs
It's how we make sense of the world
I know I would love to turn this blog in to a book 
My family are always encouraging me  to try and get published 
I have done nothing about this thus far
If I were to write a book
It would be my story 
My life 
My struggles 
And my recovery 
I don't know how to write anything else
And I have never written fiction before 
So I don't know if I could write fiction or not 
Starting to write my blog was never about the writing as such 
For me 
It was more about the content
The message 
Of hope and faith and courage 
It has been about connecting with others 
Breaking down the stigma of mental illness 
Knowing that I wasn't alone 
And that others felt the same as me
There is a universal feeling of shame  that goes along with mental illness
And addiction 
With my writing 
I wanted to break down this barriers 
I wanted to encourage others to speak and to write about their struggles 
As well as their recovery 
One of the first things that Angela said to me this morning 
Was that she is not shockable 
I was so glad to hear this 
As people who have not experience anorexia or bulimia would never understand throwing up in to a plastic bag and hiding it in a wardrobe 
Or throwing food in to a bin
Only to retrieve hours later 

But yes
I would love to turn my blog in to a book
There have been many well written memoirs of eating disorders 
Marya Hornbacher blazed the trail of such books 
My story is like millions of others 
But it is unique to me 
In that my experiences and the way I reacted is mine 
I really do feel like my story could others 
If there is one subject I know intimately 
It is eating disorders 
I can talk about 
Write about it 
As Angela said this morning 
We are professionals in our field 

One of the reasons I have not yet ventured in to writing a book
Is that I am not very technically minded 
I would almost rather hand write it than type it
That's how bad I am 
But for now 
I will keep writing my blog 
Keep reaching out to others 
Keep sharing my experience, strength and hope as they say in the meetings 
Amazing things have happened as a result of my blog 
Like speaking to Angela this morning 
We are two women
At opposite ends of the earth 
With totally different lives 
Yet we were able to sit down and chat for two hours about our lives 
Our struggles 
Our triumphs 
Our highs 
Our lows 
Our experience of mental illness 
I would never have done this only for my blog
I hope this interview will help others 
As just speaking to Angela this morning was food for my soul

Today is a good day 
I feel hopeful 
Positive 
Excited about the future 
Angela asked me where I would like to be at age 38 
My answer was simple
I hope to still be in recovery 
To be independent 
Happy and healthy 
Now I reAlly believe that I might have a shot at these things 
I mean why not?
Why not me?
I am working hard to rebuild my life 
Aide that was shattered by addiction and disordered eating 
As well as depression and anxiety 
Today I try to be the best person I can be
I try to do the right thing 
And make the right choices
It's not easy
But then nothing worth having ever is
I feel lucky and blessed 
To have come through what I've been through 
And still be standing 
Still fighting 
And still retaining a sense of humour 
It felt so good to speak to Angela today 
Two strong women sharing their stories 
Harrowing stories 
Of pain and suffering and anguish 
But also of success and courage and fIth
As women 
We owe it to each other 
To be each other's cheerleaders 
All too often 
We are jealous of each other 
And mean to each other 
It's down to us treat each other with dignity and respect 
We need to hold each other up 
And not pull each other down 
We are fucking awesome as Angela would say 

Today 
I am going to make it a good day
It started off so well talking on Skype
And it has inspired me to do my best today 
To feed and nourish myself 
To take my meds correctly 
To spend time doing the things I love to do
To celebrate my brothers good news
And to be the best Ruby I can possibly be
Because I am worth it 
And you are too 

Have a lovely Saturday everyone 
Remember to be kind to yourself today 
Gentle with yourself 
Because you are precious 
You are unique 
Special
One of a kind 
You deserve to be happy 
And healthy 
We all do 

Take care today 
And see you in the next post....

Friday, 6 November 2015

General update

Just a little post to let you know how things are going at the moment
We are getting work done on our kitchen at the moment
A new wood floor in the sitting area
And the work top in the kitchen is being extended
Needless to say
The house is completely upside down
Workmen in and out of the house
A thick layer of dust over everything 
The dogs are totally confused
The kitchen and utility room are their rooms really 
So now they've been taken over
There is no where for them to go 
So Lea sits in my car 
And Honey wanders around the garden like a little lost soul 
The weather is miserable at the moment 
Very fitting for November 
We've had to move everything out of the kitchen
So we are making tea and such in my bedroom
That suits me just fine as I drink copious amounts of tea 
Anyway 
It will be worth it when the kitchen is done
There will be air more room and space
So we will concentrate on that 

This morning 
My sister and I got up early 
About 7am
Brought the dogs for a walk 
And then went swimming 
We have been meaning to go swimming for months 
And finally went this morning 
I used to go swimming a lot last year 
As with a lot of things 
I am all or nothing 
I used to swim five times a week 
Then one day I stopped going 
And haven't been since 
I must admit 
I didn't really want to go swimming this morning 
I just couldn't find the motivation
But my sister talked me into it
So I went 
Part of the reason I didn't want to go swimming 
Is that I didn't want to see myself in a swimming suit 
And didn't want others to see me either 
But I figured we were very early so we might not meet anyone else
We arrived at the pool at about 8 30am
There was dance music being piped in to the changing rooms
So my sister and I had a morning rave 
Which was fun 
Then it was time to strip 
And make our way out to the pool 
Getting in is the worst part
I was freezing 
But 
I jumped in 
And soon got used to the water 
Once I was in
I really enjoyed it 
I usually swim about 140 lengths
But I wanted to ease in to it today
So I was happy having done 80
As I got out of the water
I caught sight of myself in a glass door
To my surprise 
I didn't look too bad 
I still have a bit of colour on my skin
I look healthy 
Curvy
Like a 34 year old woman should 
From shopping the other day
I know what size I am
I tried on clothes in size 8, 10 and 12
And I would say that I am in fact a 9
Somewhere between 8 and 10 is perfect for me 
And of course 
It depends on the shop
Sizes can differ greatly from brand to brand 
So yes 
I think I am ok with my body 
I don't love it
But I don't hate it the way I used to 
It is what it is 
And I can live with it 
Just about 

I must admit 
Curiousity has got the better of me recently 
And I have weighed myself a few times 
My weight seems to have stabilised 
And I am happy enough at a BMI of 20 - 22
As someone once said to me 
If my clothes fit 
If my hair and nails are healthy 
And if I feel good 
Then it doesn't really matter what my weight is 
And anyway 
Apart from myself 
I don't think any one gives a flying f**k what weight I am 
They care that I am healthy and happy 
Not that I weigh X kilos 
Or that I am a certain clothes size
I don't know
Maybe it's my age 
Or maybe it's my recovery 
But as I get older
I care less and less what people think of me
And I am also becoming less judgmental 
Of others 
You weigh this amount?
That's cool 
As long as you are happy and healthy
It doesn't effect me 
You smoke?
That's cool too 
It doesn't effect me
You rock a faceful of piercings?
More power to you 
Whatever works for you 
You wear nine inch heel thigh high boots?
Go for it!
You are braver than me 
I don't care if you shave your head
Grow a beard 
Have various body modifications 
If you wear skin tight leather pants 
Or don't wear clothes at all 
I say cool!
What ever works for you
And whatever you feel comfortable in 
I support whatever decision you want to make for your health and happiness 

In other news
My Mother is still holding on to my meds
And that is working quite well
It hasnt been perfect every single day
But it's a lot better than it was
And I am doing my best 
I haven't gone to a meeting yet 
And the thought of going is very overwhelming 
But 
I still plan to go
If I could just get there 
And get my ass out the door 
I get very anxious when I think of going
I know I don't have to speak if I don't want to 
But if I go
I want to speak 
But that is putting pressure on myself 
And I can't help doing that 
I also know that it would help me to go 
Just for my head
And for peace of mind 
I will try to go
I really will 

That's really all for now folks 
I hope you have a lovely Friday
And see you on the next post....