two posts that made me feel better this evening

I always appreciate cleolinda's posts about living with mental illness, and today's resonated: A cheerful way to start December (discussion of depression, mention of eating disorders, eta: also discusses the perceived 'legitimacy' of physical illness in a way that does not reflect everyone's experiences). This stood out to me particularly as words to live by:

Because even when you grasp the idea that depression is an ailment and not a personal failing... it still feels like a personal failing. You know you're clinically depressed, but you feel like you're just lazy, lonely, hopeless, pathetic. Or sometimes you don't realize you're ill, because those feelings of anxiety and shame and helplessness sneak up on you and feel legitimate, and that's why you don't realize you need help. I mean, I've been on medication and under quarterly medical supervision for fourteen years now and my own mood cycles still sneak up on me, over and over. It's hard to teach yourself to say, "You are an awesome person, and your awesomeness is a default, and so if you feel less than awesome, you need to get your awesome tuned up."

And this is a COMPLETELY charming story about a found family consisting of a cat and a dog, complete with pictures. The story of Shaun and Meow. <3