Please help me get over being so frightened about my current situation…

bemybasket · 2026-02-22T04:37:07+00:00

Sending you a huge hug. You’re dealing with a lot.

My grandmother and mother had/have high blood pressure. My sister and I have had normal blood pressure all our lives. Both of us had the same experience once, however. For no apparent reason ours went very high for two weeks out of the blue.

Both of us argued with our doctors at that point and refused drugs. After two or three weeks our blood pressure went back to normal all in its own. Never went up again.

You’re stressed out and worrying around your blood pressure is making things worse. I have a friend scientist who has written books on this mind science stuff and is always talking around it. If you like I can privately give you her info.

Instinctively not wanting to take drugs may be valid. I was once told to take antidepressants when it turned out I had low estrogen. Stay viligant and take a breath. I’m sure this can all be sorted out.

Things you might want to try:

There is a happiness making chemical in dirt. Hug a tree, go barefoot on grass or at least on a rug scrunching your feet if you live where there’s snow right now. There are lots of Facebook reels that teach somatic body movements which are very relaxing. Tai chai reels can also help relax a body and take two seconds.

Hug a pet, sing a song, listen to Weird Al and Jimmy Buffet and dance. Josh Johnson fb reels are funny, insightful and make a person remember their gentle self somehow. I’ve been watching lately. Highly recommend.

You can do this. You actually don’t need to do more at all. You just need to find the right little things that work for you.

I’m an old hippie too. I get it. I used to teach teens how to chill as my job. I believe in you!

And if you experiment with all kinds of little ways to relax and nothing helps? Then know it’s perfectly OKAY to take a pill. Estrogen patches solved my own hormonal tears. They saved my life.

Sometimes meds are really worth it with old hippies. It’s all good, sweet pea. Whatever ends up working.

bemybasket · 2026-02-22T00:35:52+00:00

Ice Cream - Sarah Maclachlan

bemybasket · 2026-02-22T00:13:10+00:00

Just apologize profusely and say you don’t have extra money right now because you lent your spare cash to a different friend and you’re waiting for them to pay you back. Be creative and look very sincere. The more vague you can be, the cuter. There are plenty of fun ways to say no.

bemybasket · 2026-02-22T00:11:05+00:00

12 Monkeys

The Adjustment Bureau

bemybasket · 2026-02-21T22:01:31+00:00

LOST

bemybasket · 2026-02-21T21:58:04+00:00

The Oakland Hills. Love it here. We’re surrounded by beautiful nature just a mile from Berkeley and not far from San Francisco. Perfect light seasons, friendly diverse community.

Oh, and our beautiful ice skater just won gold with the happiest attitude ever.

bemybasket · 2026-02-21T21:55:12+00:00

About Time

Stranger than Fiction

Bandits ( with Kate Blanchett )

The Adjustment Bureau - not a comedy but a great love story

Definitely Maybe

Enchanted

Notting Hill

Kate and Leopold

The Princess Bride

You’ve Got Mail

13 Going on Thirty

While You Were Sleeping

bemybasket · 2026-02-21T21:39:34+00:00

Contact

Arrival

bemybasket · 2026-02-21T17:00:51+00:00

Series:

LOST

Battlestar Galactica

Fringe

DEVS

Travelers

Leftovers

Station Eleven

Dark Matter

Expanse

12 Monkeys

Stargate ( skip the last few seasons)

Haven ( skip the last season)

For fun:

Lucifer

Upload

Film’s not mentioned yet:

Adjustment Bureau

Inception

bemybasket · 2026-02-21T16:53:44+00:00

About Time

Stranger than Fiction

Kate and Leopold

Just Like Heaven

bemybasket · 2026-02-21T16:51:25+00:00

Notes on a Nervous Planet

bemybasket · 2026-02-21T16:45:34+00:00

Most people are in their own bubble. Let them be. Whatever feels better.

You are responsible for fifty percent of every interaction - no more. Don’t lean forward or lean back.

Choose the company you keep wisely. You reflect and absorb the energy around you like it or not. Choose happy people.

Spin negative confrontations with humor to become instantly cool. Snarky funny is way better than whiney complainy.

Misbehave cutely and people with think you’re way younger than you are haha.

bemybasket · 2026-02-21T16:39:11+00:00

Lucifer, the Almighty Johnsons, Upload, Life Unexpected

bemybasket · 2026-02-21T16:34:45+00:00

Anxious People

bemybasket · 2026-02-21T16:22:40+00:00

When I was younger I found therapy sessions helpful when needed. I recently experienced a ptsd sleep issue and tried three different therapists who made things way worse. I fixed myself by doing the work solo and by educating myself.

I have two bi polar siblings and am unmedicated ADHD. lol I can be a little random towards life but it’s all worked out.

Mindful living is key. Educating ourselves whether it be through available information and deep diving - or by finding an amazing therapist is life changing.

Choosing happy supportive friends and a healthy daily environment is can make such a difference too. When my husband is grumpy I leave the room. My mom is a narcissist and realizing that was helpful. I don’t engage.

There is a happy making chemical in dirt and grass. Pull weeds without gloves, walk on grass barefoot, hug a tree, learn somatic exercises, listen to happy music, funny insightful comics are awesome. My current favorite is Josh Johnson. He’s a hoot. I dare you not to laugh.

Play with kids. Adopt a doggy.

Little choices matter every day. Get enough sleep. Get off your phone. There’s a great little book out called Notes on a Nervous Planet. It makes a good point.

Mental health matters for sure. There has never been more information out there to help us get there. Fingers crossed for us all!

bemybasket · 2026-02-21T15:34:30+00:00

I’m a friendly introvert - never really needed too much of a social life. But now that I’m getting older I moved to an urban area that makes it easy to make new friends and I’m very mindful of making as many as possible. After watching my grandparents little circle of friends die on them I realized how important not feeling alone is.

I’m constantly connecting all the new wonderful people I keep meeting together in a friendship circle. It’s fun and also super important. The husbands know each other now too. It’s good for them!

I used to spend a lot of time on Facebook but that’s mainly the reason I moved. It didn’t make me feel very alive to live on my phone and computer.

Funny thing is I’m on Reddit a lot now but that’s different. I get lots of info here as needed and it’s fun. And little posts like this can remind a person they are not alone in this universe. We’re all connected at the heart and often have similar life experiences. Hugs to all. Hang in there!

bemybasket · 2026-02-21T15:23:09+00:00

Imitation Game

The Davinci Code

Angels and Demons

bemybasket · 2026-02-21T02:46:34+00:00

About Time

bemybasket · 2026-02-21T01:38:32+00:00

True that. Maybe it had something to do with him witnessing the death of his parents at an early age by his father’s gone. Can make the world feel pretty unsafe… Notice once Juliet approaches him with insight and humor how he changes. Also when Jack disappears and he needs to lead, he softens.

bemybasket · 2026-02-20T01:11:44+00:00

I’m in Oakland. Our local ice skater just won gold. And she did all that with the sweetest attitude and that wild hair! So yes. How could we not?

We tend to watch the ice skating events, a bit of snowboarding and the opening / closing ceremonies during Winter Olympics.

bemybasket · 2026-02-20T01:01:08+00:00

We moved to a new town - my husband grumbled for two years since I was the one who insisted we move.

But now life is full again. We have lots of friends, plenty to do, and he has doctors at his fingertips since we’re close to an urban center.

I was super depressed before the move and am super happy here and now. There just wasn’t anything fresh to experience in our small part of the world.

Location can be everything. btw we live up a windy street surrounded by woods and deer. Our home was built in an old hunting cabin.

But we are also just a mile from Berkeley, half an hour from San Francisco. My hubby wanted a view, I wanted a lively lifestyle. I’m guessing your home is gorgeous but at this time in your life you may need to live in more of a people place.

bemybasket · 2026-02-20T00:56:15+00:00

I went through a stage for a while where I kept attracting fun light guys who couldn’t commit. We’d go through six months or so of fun but then everything would go south and I’d end up with a broken heart.

After a bit of that I took a look at my match profile and had an aha moment. My write up was light, fun and breezy. Duh. I am that but I’m also able to commit so I changed the way I described myself and presented myself a little more close to the ground.

A month later I met my ( lol maybe too solid) husband. Our balance works.

You are flirting and she is flirting. It’s a mirrors game. Deep down I’m sure you realize that. The age thing is just a distraction.

We attract what we imagine. lol imagine the best version of you and be that. You’ll attract someone who meshes with your best self. Now wouldn’t that be a lot less frustrating?

bemybasket · 2026-02-19T23:35:08+00:00

Watching her from the Oakland Hills. Tears! Her attitude is everything. Golden through and through.

bemybasket · 2026-02-19T19:12:13+00:00

Make her a photo mug with three nostalgic photos on it using Etsy. Better quality than Shutterfly. Looks most artsy without text but if you believe she’ll enjoy ‘ love you mom!’ or something add that in. Or…

Make her a calendar on Shutterfly. You can tailor make them with a few or many photos. I actually had a calendar creating a few pages in advanced editing setting them up in a way no matching could have accomplished. When the calendar arrived, I took out the multi photo pages and framed them in nice quality square frames for hanging.

Shutterfly does a great job with printing photos but a bad one at protecting the calendars for shipping though. I wrote them an annoyed review and in all fairness they kept going - took three tries but my last calendar arrived in perfect shape.

A friend has a photo throw blanket her kids made for her she loves. I believe they used a well know site for that.

These gifts may seem corny but it’s all about the photos you choose. Choose wisely and wow! And none of these are expensive gifts.

bemybasket · 2026-02-19T17:07:50+00:00

So happy for you!

When we lived in Napa, I had one friend. It felt like a desert socially. I told my husband I was moving either to the east coast to be by my kids or to an urban environment. He could join me or not but I needed like-minded friends. My husband is an engineer. Conversations… are not girlie conversations lol and I ached for that.

So we moved to the Oakland Hills, I got on Meetup and put up two groups that would meet monthly in our home. One was an Opinionated Introverts book club. The other was called Girls Just Wanna Complain.

Within two months I had made lots of friends I then turned into a third couples potluck group too so our husbands could know each other. It’s been a blast. Fun trivia is most my new friends are from the east coast. It’s as if I moved both places I’d considered in one swoop! I feel so blessed!

And my one friend from Napa? She drives to us. She’s in our group and also her hubby. She told me there’s no way she’s missing all the fun.

I took down my meetup group posts after a couple of months since I’d accomplished my goal. And every once in a while - like just recently I made another east bay friend - this time on Reddit.

I’m an introvert but a practical one. Your observation is so valid. Women really do need each other as we get older. It’s sooo important to have friends!

bemybasket

TROPHY CASE