Thankful

I am thankful today, and every day, for my friends and family.  I could have survived this year; but life is to be lived, not merely survived.  I cannot thank all of you enough for all of the love and support you have given me this year.  You gave me a shoulder to cry upon, gave me big, squishy hugs, dragged my ass out of the house when I didn't want to leave, let me stay in when I really needed to, hatched the evilest of plans (and realized none of us look good in prison orange), fed me a good stiff drink (or three) when I needed it, and most of all, made me laugh my ass off.  Thank you all for the light and laughter you bring to me.

bent not broken

Dreamer of Impossible Dreams

I'm sure most of you who read my blog also read Lori Anderson's Pretty Things blog. The only thing better than her jewelry is her writing.  She is warm, compassionate, and easy to relate to.

I firmly believe in openly and honestly talking about mental health issues, especially depression. Her post today is Where Lao Tzu and I Battle Depression.  It joins this post from Hyperbole and a Half and this post from The Bloggess as my favorite thatisbrilliantdamnIwishIcouldexpressmyselfthateloquently posts about depression.

My favorite line from her post today is: "Ironically, being depressed does NOT mean I'm not enjoying my life - it's just a little harder to."  This sentence sums up how difficult it can be to explain the complexity of depression to people, especially those close to us. Sadly, sometimes we never can, no matter how hard we try.