So the Update newsletter went out early this month. It was mailed yesterday. Thanks to all the volunteers who helped in the mail out. For those who did not know, I am the new Update person. If anyone has any suggestions or submissions, please let me know at least a week before the end of each month. I am planning to change the look of the newsletter a little. Just to freshen it up a bit.

I have not blogged here in awhile mainly because I was off for a week and did not have access to a computer. Keep checking and feel free to comment.

It looks like summer is here. They are forecasting a hot and dry summer. Which brings me to the subject of this blog. The medication I take (Zoloft) has made me extremely heat intolerant. As soon as the humidity roles in I just sweat. It is embarrassing to get on a bus having to wipe the sweat off myself constantly. I am quite sure that many of the meds out there have this side effect. The installation of our air conditioners is very important at PSO when it gets hot.

As far as side effects is concerned, this is not serious. It's just one of those things about taking psych meds that...well...suck.

I have heard so much positive feedback from persons involved in the Wellness Project. From both the peer supporters and there peers. Who would of thought in the old days that a large hospital and a consumer/survivor organization would partner up in a peer support oriented project? It is a great step forward.

Mark C. continues to do a fabulous job along with all the others who are working in the project along with the Royal Ottawa Hospital's PSR team. I hope that everyone will have an opportunity to see this project continue and flourish.

This is a continuation of my blog My New Place that I wrote in January. The link to the original article is below.

In all honesty it has been much harder than I expected. The habit of doing laundry, shopping for food, dishes and cooking and the million other things that have to be done is not habitual yet. I still have to refer to my lists and force myself to do them. Procrastination is an issue for me. The good side of all this is that I have more life experience than I had before I moved out and the privacy is great. I still have some decisions to make though. Whether or not to support my parents as they get older is one of them. Which would mean moving back home.

My New Place

Thank you Denise for the great presentation on mindfulness. I will bring in the book "Stillness Speaks" tomorrow. I have read the main book "The Power of Now" three times now but have not practiced it as much as I would have liked. Learning to live in the present moment would help with feelings of guilt of the past and anxiety of the future. Sometimes in my meditations I have reached a point of calm and stillness that is difficult to describe. Energy seems to course through my body also. But it is rare. If only we could reach this still point within more often.