- I’ve been sick for the last week. Like really sick. I saw three different doctors, and then ended up in the emergency room. The first two doctors barely examined me, took one look at my throat, ordered a throat swab or a viral swab, and told me it was a virus, keep doing what I was doing, and go home. The third took me seriously, ordered some blood work, and when some of that came back concerning, called me herself to give me strict parameters on when to go to the ER. I met those parameters a couple hours later, and spent Wednesday night sitting in the ER and eventually getting treated for what they’re pretty sure is a nasty bacterial tonsillitis. I’m grateful for all the care I received – even the doctors who weren’t so great, because at least the tests they ordered ruled some things out, and made it easier for the following doctors to diagnose me.
- I texted my family the day after my emergency room trip and told them that I’ve changed my mind about steroid use! I was, of course, joking, but the steroid they gave me at the ER for inflammation was a game changer. After a week of uncontrolled throat pain despite round the clock usage of two different over the counter pain killers, that steroid plus a dose of an IV pain medication brought me so much relief that I’m nearly pain free, and what little pain I have left is being easily managed by the over the counter pain meds that were previously barely taking the edge off.
- Over the last few years I’ve done a lot of reading and research on neurodivergence and autism, and have learned so much in the process. I’ve come to the realization that I am most definitely neurodivergent, and quite likely fall on the autism spectrum. I had a conversation recently with a family friend since childhood and somehow this topic came up, and because this person was knowledgeable about the topic, I was struck by his quick agreement to my statement that I’m most likely on the spectrum. I felt seen in a way that I hadn’t in quite some time, particularly because this person has known me since I was a child and has seen all the iterations of me over the years, and offered no judgement or shame in his acknowledgement of my difference.
- In the spirit of special interests of the neurodivergent, one of mine is the names of the bucking stock at the Calgary Stampede Rodeo. For years now I’ve kept lists in my journal of the names, because they make me laugh – they suit my sense of humor. I’m so interested in it that I pay for one month of Sportsnet streaming every year so that I can watch all ten days of the rodeo and make my list.
- This year here are a few names I’ve loved: A bronco named Cat Nap, A bull named Bon Jovi, A bronco named Erotic Tango, and bulls named Wise Guy, Bad Intentions, Debt Collector, Bubba G, and Bow Before Me.
Tag: mental health
5 Things for Today – June 22, 2026
For many years, back in the heyday of blogging, I wrote a daily post that I called my “Daily 5”. Though it was rarely only five items, it was always multiples of 5, and it was always a list of things from that particular day that had made me smile. You see, I’d heard somewhere that a practice of making a gratitude list had been shown through research to have roughly the same effect on your brain chemistry that a mild antidepressant does, and I was in the throes of deep depression and desperate enough to give it a try. But gratitude felt big and nebulous – hard to come by in the darkness of those days – so I made it smaller. I made a list of things that had brought a smile to my face each day, sometimes struggling to hit five items, sometimes repeating the same item or two for multiple days, because my life was moving at the snail’s pace of mental illness, and things rarely changed quickly.
These days, I tell that story to some of my therapy clients, adding in details about how the things that made the list on a given day could be simple. I give the example of my hot pink crocs. Those were the days when crocs were “in” for the first time, and for Christmas I had asked for a pair of crocs to wear around the house as slippers. My middle brother took this seriously, but, failing to read my mind, which very much had a nice plain black pair in mind, bought me a hot pink pair. It took a minute, but the ridiculousness of that gift, the color of which was more suited to my brother’s personality at the time than mine, never failed to make me smile when I’d catch sight of them. All these years later, I still wear them from time to time as garden shoes, and they still make me smile. I tell my clients the fast version of this story, and then I challenge them to make a list for a bit – keep it in a notebook or the notes app on their phone – and count smiles, even if they only collect 1 or 2 a day.
I was thinking of that today, as I thought about making a list style post. Today’s list isn’t so much a list of smiles or gratitudes, though I still collect those as precious. Today’s list is more of a “top of mind” sort of list. I make no guarantees to show up here daily with lists, but every so often I want to make a list of 5, so here’s today’s top of mind thoughts.
- On this rainy Calgary day, I’m praying for two different people who are dear to me, both of whom have loved ones scheduled to have heart surgeries today. As I was writing the introduction to this list, I got a message that one of the procedures has been bumped (the joys of Alberta’s broken healthcare), but still I pray. I’m holding in prayer the people I love, and I’m holding in prayer those who are patients, and all those who love them.
- A little treat goes a long way. I was feeling stir crazy in my house this afternoon, but have been trying not to engage in my favorite pastime of window shopping, since I’m not particularly good at sticking to the window part of the description, and often come home with things I’d not intended to buy. In a quest to be more intentional with my spending, and the ongoing quest to revamp my finances, I’m trying not to add too much temptation to the list. But today, feeling stir crazy, I decided to drive to a different dollar store than I usually go to, and walk every aisle in the store. I managed to come out with several things I actually needed, plus a few treats, and spend less than $12. And listening to a podcast while driving home and eating one of those treats was the perfect balm to my cabin fever.
- I’ve very much been on an audiobook kick this week. While that’s not unusual for me, instead of listening only for an hour here or there while I drive or do a bit of cleaning, I’ve been listening for hours at a time. It’s bumped my book count for the month up, but has been so lovely as I’ve played a game on my phone, or cleaned or puttered around my house. I’ve lost myself in other worlds, and loved it.
- I started reading the First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament last night. My faith is still very much in flux, but the Gospels particularly are one of the few firm places in that journey. I listen through a recording of the Gospels each month, in a variety of Bible versions throughout the year, but as I’m trying to find more places of firm footing, I decided to pull out the copy of the First Nations Version New Testament and give it a try. I’ve only read a few chapters of the Gospel of Matthew, but I’m loving the fresh eyes this unfamiliar translation is creating towards the text.
- And finally, because I know you’re all desperately wanting an update, the first little treat I bought for my read my shelves challenge, the “no bleed” highlighters, actually don’t bleed! I’ve used one of them on the first four chapters of the Gospel of Matthew, and I’m so impressed that the color has not bled through the thin Bible paper pages! Woohoo for highlighters that will improve my ability to annotate books and Bibles to my heart’s content!
And, just because I can, another quick 5 – 5 things making me smile today:
- Nerds gummy clusters
- No bleed highlighters
- Whatsapp for talking to far away dear ones
- Audible audiobooks and my past penchant for buying a lot of said audiobooks, which is feeding my current appetite to listen
- Cozy fantasy novels with some form of happily ever after ending
Little Wins That Add Up
I’ll be the first to admit that this journey of revamping how I handle my finances, and trying to save money, is well… painful. I recently sent my brother a meme that was captioned, “I think the universe knew that I’d be too bloody powerful if I could do math.” Math scares me, and money is one of those things that I’ve always found deeply stressful. Like, it makes me cry or want to avoid it stressful. Put all of those things together and anything that involves money or financial contracts feels highly intimidating to me, and like the really stressful kind of adulting that I CAN do, but I never WANT to do. I’ve been doing a lot of that kind of adulting lately, while navigating the beginning stages of a career transition, and the associated costs of registration in a new profession, and so on. All that to say, my stress level in that area has been high, and my wanting to tackle it has been low.
I’m working on it, though, and today I went shopping for a new cell phone plan with my brother. I’ve stayed with the same phone carrier for over a decade, because I just hate negotiating and change that much. Conversely, he’s gotten good at that particular task, and offered to help me. So I basically tagged along as we toured the mall, stopping at the various cell phone kiosks, while he asked some basic questions and got some quotes for a plan where I’ll bring my own phone, since my current iphone is not yet in need of replacement.
After all that, we settled on a prepaid plan option that is saving me roughly $40/month over what I was paying with my longtime service provider. It means I have less data (but still more than I use in any one month), but has the upside of making my phone usable for the occasions every year or two where I travel to the United States to spend time with friends. When we finished shopping, we sat in the food court and talked through a couple other big decisions I have on my plate right now financially, and then I came home and took some action steps based on our conversation.
It was that kind of day – an adulting kind of day – but I feel accomplished, and like this win, though small to medium in the grand scheme of my financial situation, and like the other bits and bobs I accomplished today, and the like the reading project I wrote about in my last post, are wins that might actually add up to meaningful change, and that tiny bit of light and hope in the midst of a challenging situation feels amazing today.
Lisa From Canada 