We had Olivia Remes visit our work today for #MentalHealthAwarenessDay. Olivia is a PhD candidate at the Cambridge Institute of Public Health. She gave a talk about mental health focussing on anxiety, depression and compulsive obsessive disorder. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to record today’s talk so instead I thought I’d share the above link I found on twitter.
Also this article is very interesting: Naked Scientists – Is Social Media Affecting Mental Health. I do believe there is a lot of truth in this, we need to switch off our phones at bedtime – the constant sound of them beeping in the night cannot be good for us! I always leave mine well out of earshot! But, the younger generation are particularly prone to doing this. SWITCH OFF YOUR MOBILES AT BEDTIME!!!!
What do you think? Is the overuse of social media damaging our mental health? Are we in danger of becoming depressed by all the hyped up positivity we see on Facebook?
Please comment below, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Here’s how you join in on Sarah Brentyn’s #Flash4 Storms #LemonSharkCharity.
1. Write a piece of flash fiction in 50 words or less with the theme: Help
(This can be any sort of assistance, support, encouragement, or a story of someone or something that needs help. You do not need to use the prompt word. Be creative! It can be 50 words, 15 words…even a six-word story. Anything goes provided it is prose up to 50 words. It doesn’t have to be sunshine and rainbows but keep it PG and friendly.)
2. Add a new post on your blog with your flash fiction and the hashtag #Flash4Storms in the title
3. Link to this post: https://sarahbrentyn.wordpress.com/2017/10/01/flash-fiction-prompt-for-hurricane-relief-flash4storms/
4. Leave a comment on the above ink to your post so Sarah knows you’ve participated
5. Help spread the word on social media with the hashtags:
#Flash4Storms
#LemonSharkCharity
Sarah Brentyn will donate $1 to hurricane relief for every flash that is posted (up to $50).
This is my flash fiction story for #Flash4Storms #LemonSharkCharity.
H is for Hurricane
H is for Hurricane. I knew it was coming. E is for Evacuation. I should have, but didn’t. C is for crying. Terrified, I had made the worst decision. R is relief, my family survived. D is for dog. A glimmer of hope. M is for Me, alive and thankful.
I wish this could be the outcome for all those in the path of hurricanes but sadly this is not the case… I know bloggers like Marcia Meara were caught up in the effects of hurricanes. In her case Irma pounded her poor house and she was terrified at what might happen. Luckily, the damage though extensive didn’t include any loss of life. Life is indeed precious, our possessions can be replaced, our loved ones can’t.
Here’s Marcia’s latest blog post about the damage to her garage and cars which gives you some indication of the aftermath and destruction caused by hurricanes: https://marciamearawrites.com/2017/10/06/one-giant-step-for-vankind-hurricaneirma/
Fifty words, that’s all we could write. I hope I managed to capture a sense of uncertainty, fear and hope in my short paragraph of flash fiction.
Bye for now,
I now have two 5 star reviews on Amazon for my book!!!!
Fellow Administrators of our Authors Bloggers Rainbow Support Club #ABRSC on Facebook, myself, my good friends Colleen Chesebro and Debby Gies. Click on Colleen’s and Debby’s photos to be directed to their awesome blogs. These ladies rock!
The next bloggers bash is May 19th… not long to go and Geoff has managed to find a very lovely looking pub for a venue. How’s about that? Exciting times ahead folks, put the date in your diary!
Sarah Brentyn is doing a very special flash fiction prompt in aid of hurricane relief. She has kindly offered to donate a $1 for each flash story up to a maximum $50. Join in by 15th October and share on social media.
It is my great pleasure to welcome John Howell to my blog. John’s book Circumstances of Childhood is available to purchase today, October 1st which happens to be my brother’s birthday! So, with that in mind I decided to post this today.
Shipping on October 1st. Priced at $0.99 for the introduction.
This is a different story for John. It is in the Family Life genre and tells the story of brotherly love, riches to rags, redemption and a little paranormal thrown in. Normally John writes thrillers but this time he has stepped into a different place. This book was written with love for the story and the hope it will be an enjoyable read.
Here is the blurb:
When a former pro football star and broadcaster, now a Wall Street maven is accused of insider trading, will he be able to prove his innocence and expose those who are guilty?
Greg and his boyhood pal dreamed of big success in professional football and then later in business. Greg was the only one to live the dream. Now the founder of an investment fund Greg is faced with a routine audit finding by the SEC. The audit points to irregularities and all the tracks lead to Greg. The justice department hits him with an indictment of 23 counts of fraud, money laundering, and insider trading. His firm goes bust, and Greg is on his own.
His best friend knows he is innocent but has been ordered under penalty of eternal damnation not to help.
If you enjoy stories of inspiration, riches to rags, redemption, brotherly love, and a little of the paranormal, Circumstance of Childhood will keep you riveted.
Here is an excerpt.
I look down at my drink and wonder what will happen tomorrow. My daughter Constance wants to come and visit. She lives in New York, and before all hell broke loose, we didn’t see each other often. I missed her so much, and it seemed as if I had to beg her even to talk on the phone. Now, it’s like she wants to be here every weekend. It’s only an hour’s flight by the shuttle or three by train, so she can come when she wants. I just can’t figure out why she got so clingy. I have my troubles, but it doesn’t have anything to do with her. No use in asking her husband either. Though a nice enough guy, I always wonder if he has someplace important to go when I visit. He never sits still and stays busy on the phone or at the computer. He makes a good living, but it seems a person could take an hour to sit and talk. I’d looked forward to some kind of relationship when he and Constance got married. It’ll never happen with him.
When I take another pull at my drink, I notice the burn feels less. It happens every time. First sip initiation, I call it. It’s like the first puff of a cigarette, hits hard then, after, nothing. I decide to let Constance pretty much have the agenda tomorrow. She and I have not had a chance to talk about anything deep for a while. It could just be that she blames me for her mother running off with that guy with the house on the Hudson. He has a title, and the old gal couldn’t resist, but I think the daughter always felt I should have done something. Her mother’s sleeping with another guy and what the hell can I do about that?
I’ll just go with the flow. If she wants to go out, we will. If she wants to stay in, we can do that too. I better think about getting some food in the house. Of course, we can always order take out. I need to move on to my drink and let this go. Tomorrow will be what it is. I remember the day she was born. I looked down at her in my arms and promised I would do anything for her. I love her more than life itself, and I hope we can somehow get to the root of whatever’s wrong. She sounded strange on the phone this morning, and I feel helpless to do anything about it. I hope she opens up when she gets here.
For some reason, I feel tired. Perhaps I’ll go ahead and finish my drink. Maybe I’ll just go home and forget the burger. First, though, I’ll just shut my eyes for a minute. My hands feel good when I put my head down.
“Hey, Greg,” Jerry says. I barely hear him. “What’s the matter? You taking a nap? Greg?” I can feel him shake me, but I have no interest in waking up. His voice gets further away, and I think he says, “Oh, my God, Sophie, call 911, quick.” Now the room goes silent.
Author Bio.
John began his writing as a full-time occupation after an extensive business career. His specialty is thriller fiction novels, but John also writes poetry and short stories. His first book, My GRL, introduces the exciting adventures of the book’s central character, John J. Cannon. The second Cannon novel, His Revenge, continues the adventure, while the final book in the trilogy, Our Justice, launched in September 2016. The latest Circumstances of Childhood a family life story is available as of October 1st, 2017. All books are available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions.
John lives in Port Aransas, Texas with his wife and their spoiled rescue pets.
