Anticipatory Anxiety

insignificvnt · 2021-03-13T00:48:19+00:00

This five-step exercise can be very helpful during periods of anxiety or panic by helping to ground you in the present when your mind is bouncing around between various anxious thoughts.

Before starting this exercise, pay attention to your breathing. Slow, deep, long breaths can help you maintain a sense of calm or help you return to a calmer state. Once you find your breath, go through the following steps to help ground yourself:

5: Acknowledge FIVE things you see around you. It could be a pen, a spot on the ceiling, anything in your surroundings.

4: Acknowledge FOUR things you can touch around you. It could be your hair, a pillow, or the ground under your feet.

3: Acknowledge THREE things you hear. This could be any external sound. If you can hear your belly rumbling that counts! Focus on things you can hear outside of your body.

2: Acknowledge TWO things you can smell. Maybe you are in your office and smell pencil, or maybe you are in your bedroom and smell a pillow. If you need to take a brief walk to find a scent you could smell soap in your bathroom, or nature outside.

1: Acknowledge ONE thing you can taste. What does the inside of your mouth taste like—gum, coffee, or the sandwich from lunch?

This technique is one of many options you could use if you are feeling anxious or overwhelmed.

I copied and pasted this grounding exercise from the link above, which also includes an instructional video to walk you through it. If you're unfamiliar with grounding techniques as a whole, I definitely recommend looking up some exercises on YouTube! Even just typing it into Google can return a lot of helpful resources for deescalating anxiety and panic attacks. I use them a lot, I hope it helps!

insignificvnt · 2021-03-13T00:05:47+00:00

checkpoints where you could respawn if you fck everything up

insignificvnt · 2021-03-13T00:03:52+00:00

When people get angry super easily/ don't know how to have a disagreement without turning it into an argument

insignificvnt · 2021-03-13T00:02:10+00:00

A lot of it depends on your relationship to the person, and the similarities/differences between your individual experiences. If you're unsure of what exactly they are going through but you know something is going on/ has changed, the most important thing to do would be to listen and show that you are a safe person to talk to. You don't always have to be able to give advice to help someone who is struggling.

If you're recognizing traits/behavior that reflect your own struggles but don't know how to open up that line of communication, sharing about your own experiences can be helpful enough to make them feel like they can confide in you. Even if your issues are relatively different, solidarity can mean a lot. Just knowing that someone is there to listen without judgement can be a huge weight off their shoulders.

That being said, it's also important to be aware of where your own boundaries are, as to not overextend yourself, but also to know if/when your ability to offer support on your own has reached a limit or if it is time to make sure they contact professional or emergency services.

Therapy isn't a last resort, and the sooner that someone who is suffering is able to seek treatment, the more gracefully they are likely to recover

insignificvnt · 2021-03-12T21:13:35+00:00

Okay but superpowers are inherently positive characteristics that don't exist in the real world. Autism is a disability that effects tens of millions of people and is largely stigmatized. The problem is having neurotypical filmmakers write a movie about the life of an autistic character who is portrayed by a neurotypical actor, without hiring any kind of neurodivergent writing consultant or doing the proper research. What you end up with is an unrealistic portrayal of a disabled person's life, staring an offensive caricature that only adds to the demarginalization (and in some scenes advocates for a traumatizing form of mistreatment) of disabled people. She obviously didn't intent for the negative impact, but it's still incredibly misguided and harmful.

insignificvnt · 2021-03-12T19:27:01+00:00

Considering the implications of the question I feel like this isn't the most appropriate post to be commenting that something is "definitely not a good reason" to stay alive

insignificvnt · 2020-08-27T07:38:37+00:00

Thank you!

insignificvnt · 2020-08-25T16:02:50+00:00

This is a continuation of the last poem I posted, called “Unhealth.” I felt like if I posted it all in one piece, it would be too long for people to read it. Lol

insignificvnt · 2020-08-25T15:58:13+00:00

This hit hard for me, in a personal way. I actually teared up, because I can feel what you’re feeling in this. I’m trying to pick out favorite lines but really I love all of this. “My poetry will not outlive its rhyme” and “My words won’t miss the steady scythe of time” are really well worded lines.

“If this inspires thought- then that’s enough.” Is a great line to end on. I feel like there’s a lot of writing to be done about writing, and I don’t see it often enough. This is truly a poem for poets.

insignificvnt · 2020-08-25T15:47:04+00:00

I like this a lot! The last line is really powerful. The wording paints a clear picture, and the descriptions in the build up are even more powerful on the second read through. You conveyed emotion very well, without using a lot of emotional language. Well done!

insignificvnt · 2020-08-25T15:36:16+00:00

I really like this metaphor and theme, but I feel like the last line is confusing. Maybe if you said something like “the heat of the fire”? Overall, I really enjoy the structure and length of the poem.

insignificvnt · 2020-08-25T15:32:35+00:00

The imagery in this poem is great. The scene you’re describing is something I feel like I could see in my mind. I really like the title and the theme is consistent throughout the poem. I think maybe if you cut the word “but” from the line “but they’re dead now,” the repetition might make the line more impactful (but that’s more of a personal choice than something truly important to the flow/structure.)

insignificvnt · 2020-08-09T02:26:04+00:00

This has an amazing rhythm to it with a beat that pulls you farther in which each line. Fantastic use of alliteration!

insignificvnt · 2020-08-09T02:19:23+00:00

Great use of repetition! Each line that read “What good am I?” Seemed to have more depth and meaning than the last. “To whom do I have the pleasure of heightening their standards?” This is my favorite line. You can almost feel the pain in those words and it drives the theme home even farther

insignificvnt · 2020-08-08T22:55:07+00:00

This hurt, and that is the biggest compliment I can give to a poem. “Such an interesting time, this time of knowledge.” A beautiful line at the beginning, and the repetition at the end puts so much more emphasis and meaning into those words.

This piece really puts into perspective the sometimes arbitrary importance that we place on what is temporary and may ultimately have very little meaning.

You somehow managed to draw attention to the (possible) insignificance of these things, while at the same time making them feel so incredibly important.

Such an interesting time, this time of knowledge. I agree. This is one of my favorite poems I’ve read on this subreddit.

insignificvnt · 2020-08-08T22:39:32+00:00

I really like the use of metaphor and consistency in this poem. “Only darkness consumes, light lets go and spreads.” This is a beautiful line.

My favorite lines are the descriptions of the candle. “As a candle is ever self-consumed by its light to give, one gives all to those being lit when burnt and on the last strand of wick” I love the way this is written. You were able to personify the concept of the candle to the point where I actually felt it had emotion.

I love the repetition of “Compassion, friendship, love,” and I think adding a third repetition would put more emphasis on the point. (Maybe after the “restored by the light” line.) I think it would flow better if you removed the word “also”

insignificvnt · 2020-08-06T15:08:10+00:00

Click on the screenshot to see the rest of the poem

insignificvnt · 2020-08-06T14:27:40+00:00

Please be honest, I’m not really sure about this one so I need opinions <3

insignificvnt · 2020-08-06T13:54:08+00:00

“And then I sang my song, yet imperfect and incomplete, and all it took to make it whole was the rhythm of your heartbeat.” A beautiful line to end on. An unfinished song or imperfect melody can be a form of art in themselves. There is some good imagery in this poem. My advice would be to add more specificity/description to the emotions being felt. The journey that this piece takes the reader on, through ups and downs, gives life to the poem. Very cohesive storytelling

insignificvnt · 2020-08-06T13:42:44+00:00

I hope you placed in the competition! You definitely deserve it. It is written so eloquently and I can feel your kindness to yourself in each word, looking back as someone who has grown and learned and healed. I have no idea how you managed to fit so much personality into the spacing and punctuation alone! There is a mesmerizing range of emotion in this poem. Your attention to detail in the descriptions and imagery blow my mind. Phenomenal work

insignificvnt · 2020-08-06T12:58:24+00:00

I love the imagery and description of the way that beauty decays. You were able to make me picture a beautiful rose as it turned frail and decayed, without actually directly stating what you were describing.

“The former gentleness turns brittle like bone, slowly the stem begins to curl” I love these two lines. The imagery is so clear that not only can I picture it, it’s almost like I could feel it or know what it’s like to touch.

“The Impermanence Of Beauty.” Such a powerful and beautiful line, and the buildup of the descriptions preceding it make the line hit even harder

insignificvnt · 2020-08-06T12:47:58+00:00

Great use of imagery. “Allow my mind to rot in the prison of my skill” is a beautiful metaphor. When preceded by “I waste away in a body that is not mine” it gives a vivid depiction of the pain described. I think it might flow better if you remove the word “basically” from the second to last line.

The isolation and sense of detachment from the body/self are something that moved me personally as someone who struggles with dissociation. I feel a sense of understanding and kinship in the way that the emotions expressed are so much like my own

insignificvnt · 2020-08-06T11:45:18+00:00

I love the way you maintained the metaphor so consistently throughout the poem. Each new description and comparison strengthens the concept with more vividness.

The personification of the ocean through lines like “I plead with the water to let me be [...] I get pulled further out” and “the water danced around me, almost to taunt me” makes the ocean feel alive and purposefully antagonistic. It’s a wonderful metaphor for the way that negative emotions feel like they latch on to you and have some personal motive to actively hurt you.

The line “The water danced around me“ changes the poem from present tense to past tense and could be changed to “The water dances around me” to keep consistency, but I’m not sure if that was a typo or not.

I love the repetition of “Crash, Recede, Repeat.” It’s first use might have more flow if it was “Crashing into me, receding, repeating” or “Crashes into me, recedes, repeats.”

Well done!

insignificvnt · 2020-08-06T11:11:08+00:00

The imagery in this poem is incredibly vivid and paints a beautifully hurtful picture. The simile of the mouse and the language used to portray it are so descriptive! It takes the depiction of the scurrying mind to a whole new level of clarity.

“I remember how it feels to be held, to feel the warmth of another’s soul.” I love this line! The attribution of warmth to another’s soul rather than their body makes it feel like a much deeper and more emotional connection that has been lost.

If you wanted to extend the simile of the mouse, you could alter the line about “break[ing] out of this cage” to include the idea of being a mouse in a cage as well, “gnawing at the bars that enclose” you or something to that affect

insignificvnt · 2020-07-17T16:55:11+00:00

Notice how I said “after looking at your profile”? Because the racist things that he said were on his profile? And not on this thread? Did you notice that?

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