RSS

25 Feb 2010

Mind Bubbles, Mind Apples and Mental Health

Oops over two weeks since I last blogged on this here beloved blog of mine, things have been hectic in real life, with non fun power cuts, planning younger sisters hen weekend and waiting for niece/nephew number 3 to arrive (over a week late now!). I still managed to take a photo a day for project365 thang, but even those got uploaded a few days late, on day 116 already (fookin hell). To be perfectly frank (well just Claire), I didn't have much to say, so just didn't. Luckily for you during that time my creative batteries have been recharged.

Mind Bubbles
Click to see it Large(r)
Mind Bubbles

I am quite the arty farty person when I want to be, I suppose another term for it would be 'creative',  it is not so much focused on ability, more on the urge to always be doing something visually creative like photography, blogging and doodling to in my case.
I am always thinking of things to doodle, blog and photograph, so much so, that I kinda forget on purpose that I have other stuff to do, even if it is interesting, it is always going to be less fun that doodling. So where is that inner voice, the 'sensible voice' telling me "hey stop fannying around and get on with your college work". Well after some in-depth research with my buddy TJ, it has been discovered that the sensible voice has been locked in a chest and thrown into the ocean, once it reached the bottom of the ocean floor it is guarded by evil fish, who use bubbles to further muffle the sound of the sensible voice.
Bubbles are tricky things, you have those amazing thoughts/ideas that pop into your head, that can lead to a great doodle, blog post or whatever, they can be called 'Mind Bubbles'. It is up to you what you do with these 'Mind Bubbles' either capture them by writing the ideas down or simply let them float away. The thing to be wary of is when BOTDK appear, these are Bubbles of the Dangerous Kind, evil bubbles that distract you and take you away from your assignments, into dangerous places like blogging forums and even more nefarious than that.... facebook and its games!

Mind Apples
Mind Apples
Click to see it Large(r)
I happened upon Mind Apples a while back on twitter and immediately loved their 'mental' 5 a day concept, here is a brief excerpt from their site:
Mindapples promotes mentally healthy living for everyone through simple, everyday activities. Rather than telling people what to do, we’re asking everyone to pick their own 5-a-days and share them with the world.
How can you share your mind apples? Well they have a survey on their site, in which you can share the things that you do on a daily basis to keep yourself mentally healthy. I had fun thinking of things I do daily to keep myself happy, even if I don't manage 5 a day, I certainly manage to do something, whether its taking a photo, doodling or just enjoying a bloody good cup of tea.

You can have a nose at the Mind Apple Site or go straight to the Mind Apple Survey

It gave me the excuse to have at whirl at using water colours from my doodles, well water soluble pencil thingies. In the first doodle, I used crappy thin paper, so it all wrinkled when the paper dried, so on the second one I used thickish card. I am kind of chuffed with the them and it was really nice to take some time yesterday just to have a play. What do you think of them?

Time for another survey:
I follow all things Mental Health on twitter, Mind Apples mentioned above is just one great example of the informative way you can use twitter to educate people on mental health type subjects. Another twitterer I follow in the realms of Mental Health is @mentalcapital and the other day a he tweeted about a interesting survey. The survey is about  web-use by people with lived experience of mental health issues, so if you fancy chipping in with your opinion, then click here: SURVEY

The more voices that chime in with their experiences of using the internet as either a person who suffers with mental health issues, or a person that cares for someone with mental health issues (professional or personal) then the more informative the surveys outcome will be. A couple of minutes of your time, answering some very interesting questions is all it takes. Let me know what you thought, if you do indeed take the survey, always fun to know if something I found interesting,is found equally interesting by you lot.

Till the next the post dudes, in the meantime watch out for the BOTDK and have a whirl at doing your Mental 5 a day.

20 comments:

  1. Ah, I see, I can blame it all on the BOTDKs and then everything will be fine! Excellent!

    Honestly, though, it seems that my brain has turned into a dog with a shiny object half the time lately in that I remember that there are things I'm supposed to do doing but then two minutes later, I have forgotten again what it was. I really need to start writing stuff down!

    Of course, I have the most convenient excuse of all ... it's called advancing old age!!! :-0

    ReplyDelete
  2. Same as Linda... except I'm a bird with a shiny object and pieces of string... I do my best to stay on task, but sometimes it just doesn't happen.

    I'm trying to get better. For example, setting a time of day to do housework, grouping things together, and then just plain ol' letting it flow as it comes.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I loved working with watercolours... Play around with salt (good for making ocean waves), drops of rubbing alcohol (great for creating peacock feathers), and rubber cement (works as a resist).

    You're doing great with the watercolour doodles

    ReplyDelete
  4. Claire! I simply love how they turned out!!! They have a softer feeling to it. Oooh I'm so excited! I want to see more watercolour doodles by you ^_^!

    I'm curious; How did you paint these? Did you wet the brush and took some color from the tip? Or did you added some color to the paper and then brushed over it?

    Lalalaa mind bubbles, distraction bubbles, bubbles bubbles bubbles. Yes. You know how I feel and think about the bubbles hehe. BOTDK should stay away! I really think that we need to contact Aspot again...

    Oh yeah! I also want to create a doodle for Mindapples. I need to ask them about the donation though. Since we have euro's and not pounds.

    Ooooh I have an idea! But I can't tell you...yet ^_^. But really don't stop with the watercolours!

    Ciao Xx *waves*

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ooh wait it isn't for Mindapples right? It was for Doodle something something. Shoot! I need to search for the correct name hehe.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Totally agree re mental health online. I have always been quite adamant that I am unique in my feelings, but the internet is starting to prove that I'm not so alone. It feels totally different to be able to connect with people, and make sense of things through empathy and difference.
    Plus, it also takes me to great ideas like mind bubbles (although I keep grabbing onto them but popping them before they can be written out) and mind apples, which are helpful, wherever you are on the mental health spectrum!
    Your drawings are great!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I just love the various British terms you use in your writing. I'm a BBC America addict, so some have crept into my lingo here. For example, I've started referring to bad situations as "pear-shaped", much to the amusement of others.

    Cheers,
    Brian

    ReplyDelete
  8. Argh! I think the BOTDK nearly go me recently! Though I did manage to pass an English essay so hopefully I can still be saved...

    ReplyDelete
  9. I wish I had known about BOTDK when I was much younger, it explains so much.

    Not only are you a fantastic photographer, Claire, but artist as well.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh that mind apples idea is really interesting, going to take a look at the survey. Argh and I always have more important things to do than the creative stuff... you reminded me that I need to on purposely forget that and get creative again!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Love the doodles, especially the second one. That's a serener Claire than I'm used to seeing. I think the bottom of the ocean in a chest guarded by evil fish is where one's sensible voice belongs if all it has to say is: "Get back to work!" I'm so happy for you that you've developed all these creative outlets. They will serve you gloriously in the future.

    ReplyDelete
  12. You are very creative! I love your depictions of what it going on in the mind...spot on!!!
    Lindsey Petersen
    http://5kidswdisabilities.wordpress.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. One of you mind apples arrived on my doorstep. I love the Oystercatcher. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  14. @Linda, I hope you are not being flippant about the BOTDK? I don't want to incur their wrath if they read this..... hehe

    Oh shiny thing! Yep I do that a lot.

    Hmmm I have no old age excuse though, not that you have either, you are not exactly decrepit!

    @Lois, Hmm I think I like the let it flow as it comes. As with anything like this, especially when it comes to chores, it nots a problem until its actually a problem to you. So if things are working for you now and you are happy, why change a thing?


    @Lois again, Hey Lois nice to see you again.. lol

    Thanks for the tips!!!!! Love the idea of making ocean waves, in fact all your tips are much appreciated, love it!

    @TJ, Oh I am really pleased you see them as softer, that is definitely something I was going for... The TJ look :) Your doodles and the way you colour them has definitely influenced me.

    I drew them in pencil first, then I went over them in black fine liner, then I lightly coloured them in using water soluble pencils, then I brush them with water.

    Does that make sense?

    You can do a doodle for mindapples as well for free, they said they liked this one! I was chuffed to bits!

    I want to know the idea!

    @Finding Melissa, Hey melissa, when I started blogging I just thought it was just going to be place that I recorded my thoughts and that would be it. But it has proven to be a vehicle to much more interesting things and people, yourself included.

    I think the mind bubbles that are important eventually stick and you can eventually juggle the right amount of mind apples :)

    @Brian, Hey Brian you will have to point out which ones stick out as typically British, as I tend to forget things like that lol Also love the fact that you use pear shaped.

    @Alison, Phew that was a close shave! You must have worn your Anti-BOTDK deodorant?

    @Paul
    , /sigh if only the schools took the threat of BOTDK more seriously, more lives could have been saved..... lol

    Artist is stretching it a bit! But I love the compliment :)

    @Penny, You DO need to forget on purpose the boring stuff sometimes! Not that I advocate such behaviour, I blame the BOTDK!

    Would love to know what your mind apples are :)

    @NP, I love the fact that you are always on the same page as me, well the page that I am on in the moment that I write these posts :)

    @Lindsey, Hey Lindsey, Thanks for popping in and for using 'spot on' probably my favourite phrase ever!lol

    @Jamie Hey I am so glad you liked it! I thought you would appreciate the Britishness of that card :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. You know I tend to be a bottom dweller, rising to the top occasionally for a bit of air, only to slowly sink again. I started blogging as a journey to let go of the random "badness" - which I now will refer to as BOTDK! I will definitely check out Mind Apples (do you know what a road apple is?).
    The level of caring amongst bloggers has astonished me from the beginning. We all walk the same roads, just going in different directions. It seems as though we converge somewhere along the way... (I'm starting to "bloviate," sorry!)
    I have all sorts of art mediums, including the pencils you used. I thoroughly enjoy your doodles and think art is very therapeutic. In fact, I know it is!
    Gonna go check out the site...
    love♥♥♥

    ReplyDelete
  16. Helloooo! Aww the TJ look haha! How cool is that!

    It makes perfect sense! You have a lot of ways to use these type of pencil. You just have to find the way you like the most ^_^. Oh what you can do, if you have more time that is hehe. After you did the first layer like you did know, you can wait when it's completely dry and then wet the tip and add some shading here and there. That why you can create multiple tones in your illustrations! That's how I do it now.

    Oh yeah the doodle was for DoodleDay! I made an eyedoodle card.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi Claire - thanks for the good wishes! We're well underway, the kids are great, but with various types of mental and family "luggage" that quite frankly has me in tears at times. I think it's called empathising... I sometimes think that a formal education (along the lines of what you're doing) would be helpful. For me. What these kids need from us though are (relatively) sane and predictable adults who care enough to help them forward, and that I can do...
    I'm not used to this work lark though, and I'm totally knackered after they've left for the day. No spring chicken anymore, I guess.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Reading your bog with a cup of tea...keep posting great post

    ReplyDelete
  19. Claire, I'm heading straight to Mind Apples Site.
    Your post is sizzling hot! Thank you for the creative suggestion. :)

    ReplyDelete