Gum on My Shoe

And now I’m just left with this stump — this space — which I want to also understand. (Andy Goldsworthy) This post was inspired by a recent act of vandalism that resulted in the felling of the “Robin Hood Tree” at Sycamore Gap beside Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland, England. Believed to have been planted between 1860–1890, the tree achieved international recognition in 1991 when it featured in the Kevin Costner movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves . It was a favourite subject for photographers and artists. People proposed to their spouses there. Ashes of loved ones were scattered there. It was voted Tree of the Year in 2016 in a public competition run by The Woodland Trust. For a fuller account of the tree’s significance and the effect of its loss, check out this BBC News article . This post isn’t about the Gap sycamore alone, however. It’s something I’ve wanted to write since the unexpected — and unexplained — loss of a tree close to my home in May 2021. It didn’t have ...

In this post my aim is to explore how sympathy, empathy, and compassion relate to one another. I began with a quick search through the book Fran and I wrote about our friendship. I was surprised to discover the word sympathy doesn’t appear even once in the book’s 259 pages. Sympathetic occurs three times. Empathy twice. Compassion / compassionate appears thirteen times. It’s clear which feels most relevant to us, but that didn’t help me define or differentiate between them. I looked online next. Two definitions caught my attention. The first is from an article by Sara Schairer. While these words are close cousins, they are not synonymous with one another. Sympathy means you can understand what the person is feeling. Empathy means that you feel what a person is feeling. Compassion is the willingness to relieve the suffering of another. The second is from a post by Olivia Guy-Evans. Simply put, sympathy is feeling for someone, while empathy is feeling with someone. The idea ...

Organised by the World Foundation for Mental Health and observed each year on October 10, World Mental Health Day (WMHD) is an opportunity to raise awareness of mental health issues and mobilize in support of mental health. Fran and I have shared numerous pieces in the past to mark WMHD and other mental health awareness days and events . Last year’s post for WMHD focused on the power of the spoken word . This year’s theme — mental health is a universal human right — covers a lot of ground. I can’t hope to go into everything in detail in a single blog post. Instead, let’s explore some of the different aspects and see where that takes us. Mental Health Is for Everyone The first thing to assert is the right of everyone to the best mental health possible. This includes appropriate and accurate information, support, and treatment for all who need it, when and where they need it. “Mental health for all” sounds fine, but what does that actually mean? Some mental health conditions pr...

Check out our top posts for the past month. Posts are listed by the number of page views they attracted during the month, most popular first. Breaking the Silence: Talking About Suicide to Create Hope I Can See Clearly: Celebrating My New Glasses from Grey St. Opticians Erich Brenn Would Be Proud: How I Keep My Plates Spinning (Mostly) The Guest at Your Table: A Jumbo Selection of My Writing on Other People’s Blogs Our Top Posts of the Month (August 2023) Free Books for World Suicide Prevention Day Six Times I Felt Proud This Week My Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) How to Use a Spreadsheet for Wellness and Self-Care Effective Strategies to Manage Paranoia in Bipolar Disorder and Schizoaffective Disorder Our most visited pages were: Contact Us Resources About Us Our books News and Appearances Testimonials   Photo by Luke Porter at Unsplash.  

I see you. I see your strength and courage, your hesitations and fears. I see the way you love others, and your struggle to love yourself. I see how hard you work to grow, and your dedication to heal. (Scott Stabile) A couple of years ago in I’m Proud of You: Four Words That Mean So Much I talked about feeling proud of other people and ourselves. Picking up on that theme, I’d like to share six times I’ve felt proud in the past week. 1. Completing my blog post for World Mental Health Day World Mental Health Day falls each year on October 10 and I’m happy (and proud!) to say I finished my blog post early this year. That was partly because I’d been invited to write something for WMHD for the disability network at work (shout out to Debbie for inviting me to contribute!) and I needed to submit in plenty of time. A slightly modified version will go up here on our blog too, so getting it finished this week means I’m ahead of the game here too. No spoilers, but the piece is sl...

Fran and I are immensely grateful for the opportunities we’ve had to share our story and message to a wider audience. In this post I’ve brought together a selection of articles hosted on other people’s blogs and websites. Check out our news and appearances page for more, including our books, reviews, interviews, and podcast appearances. I’m always open to invitations so if you have a blog or project and would like me to contribute please get in touch . Likewise, we love having guest bloggers here at Gum on My Shoe. Check our contact page for submission guidelines. Hosted by bp Magazine 5 Must-Read Rules to Help Your Friend with Anxiety & Bipolar Disorder 11 Simple Ways to Help a Loved One Living with Bipolar Disorder How to Spot Bipolar Red Flags — and What to Do about Them Casting the Glamour: The Enchantment of Euphoric Mania Planning for Wellness by Using Structure to Help Manage Bipolar Symptoms How to Support Your Friend from Afar 5 Things My Friend’s Bipolar ...

As regular readers will know, I recently bought a new pair of glasses . I couldn’t be happier but there were a few issues at first. New glasses can lead to headaches until your eyes adjust. The frames sit differently on my face too and I had some pain across the bridge of my nose as they settled into place. They’re fine now but for the first week or two I occasionally reverted to wearing my old glasses for a few hours. Doing so was a trade-off between seeing clearly, and seeing less clearly but with less discomfort. It got me thinking about how life is often a compromise between caring for some aspects of our health and wellbeing at the expense of others. The trick is not to ignore any one aspect for so long so that it becomes critical. It’s an ongoing challenge to keep all my plates spinning, to borrow an analogy from my friend Maya. If you’re unfamiliar with the reference, check out this video of plate spinning maestro Erich Brenn. My plates are many and varied but I can grou...