Category: Mental Health

Tips On How To Find A Hobby You’ll Love

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hobby

Having a hobby does more than fill in the time in a fun and entertaining way. Hobbies are incredibly good for you. They can help reduce stress, boost your mood, and keep your brain sharp. There are a ton of benefits to having a hobby you can turn to on a regular basis. Some fall into the perfect hobby with ease, while others find it more challenging to find one that they can truly enjoy and feel passionate about. Don’t worry if you haven’t stumbled upon something you love to do. Here are a few things you can try to help you find a hobby you’ll love.

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Still Going Dry For The Canadian Cancer Society

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Still Dry…..

Dry Feb is a fundraising initiative from/for The Canadian Cancer Society. Being sober for a cause.

I decided to participate for personal reasons and since I believe it’s a worthy cause which made me feel compiled to do my part. So far I have raised $200 which is 40% of my goal.  A huge thank-you to everyone who has donated, shared the link or offered encouragement, please let’s keep it up !

So I am now one week in and offering my update. Continue reading

Make Good Art: The Many Benefits Of Creating ‘A Thing’

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Benefits of creating

A few months ago, Neil Gaiman released a collection of essays and other works of non-fiction. This work, called The View From The Cheap Seats, was hotly anticipated by many fans, myself included. I was lucky enough to have a copy gifted to me, by a then-stranger (Steve Cleff, a kind human being and an amazing artist). The work is filled with insightful, interesting, and sometimes humours essays and observations on the world. However, the main draw for me, and the work I re-read time and time again, is Make Good Art. Make Good Art is the text of a commencement speech given by Neil Gaiman in 2012. The whole speech/transcript is filled with quotable phrases, but one in particular stands out:

Life is sometimes hard. Things go wrong, in life an din love and in business and in friendship and in health and in all the other ways that life can go wrong. And when things get tough, this is what you should do.

Make good art.

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I’m Dry This February

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DryFeb Bottle Cap

I can’t think of anyone who’s heart has not been broken by the devil known as Cancer.

And I’m really not sure that anyone needs extra convincing that we need to make headway in our treatments so given the opportunity to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society, who would turn that down?

Also I personally have had my life, family and friendships affected by alcoholism.

It’s a horrible thing to watch someone you love fall deeper in the bottle without a way to drag to them out.

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5 Simple Self-Care Tips For Geeks

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self-care

It’s no great secret that things have felt pretty miserable lately. Despite the brief passage of time, many of us (Geeks in Art included) are still mourning Carrie Fisher’s death. Fans admired and drew inspiration from her writing and advocacy. For many, she is the Princess who saved herself and later became a General instead of Queen. She was what happens when bravery and wit meet sheer talent.

Looking to the future for optimism is becoming harder for many to do. Whether it’s a vague sense of gloomy fear for the world in general, or a specific anxiety about your future, willing yourself to be more optimistic isn’t easy. This is why self-care is incredibly important. Self-care, in practice, means doing the things you need to do, even when they are hard or unpleasant, in the best interests of your own mental health. Things things include showering, cleaning, and eating on a regular basis. Self-care can also include things you do to comfort yourself when the world gets to be too much. Here are a few other self-care tips for geeks. Continue reading

Dragons Can Be Defeated | Geeks In Art

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While I had always been interested in superheroes and science fiction, it was fairy tales that pushed me to explore other geeky interests. I loved stories based on fairy tales, or featuring those fantasy-style villains. As a pre-teen fairy tales were especially influential – both in the types of books I chose and the television I watched.

Like most adolescents in the 90s, I devoured every Lurlene McDaniel book as soon as it was released, and I eagerly awaited each installment of the Fear Street series. But I also read fair tale retellings, which eventually led to historical fiction. Through historical fiction I read works like There Will Be Wolves, The True Confessions Of Charlotte Doyle, and The Nine Days Queen, all of which gave me a hunger for more strong yet flawed female heroes. Continue reading