Gem Hill @SelfCare Backpack

@carebackpack.bsky.social

266 Followers 233 Following

Helping people build relationships with themselves | Mental Health | Self Care | Therapist in training | they/them https://selfcarebackpack.com/links

A photo of a book. The title is The Othered Woman: how white feminism harms muslim women, by Shahed Ezaydi. There is also a leaflet from the other explaining how she reverted the rights of the book from Unbound and it's now punished through Pluto Press
what can you do to make future you’s life a little easier or nicer? Your sense of control and efficacy is important in the face of helplessness.
An a4 flyer advertising a property investor wanting to help me sell my house without an estate agent. In the envelope was a square teag, without any packaging, just raw and handled by who knows how many people.
a selfie. I have jaw length curly hair in a sort of bob.
A screenshot from a BBC article. The text reads There were 800,000 more people out of work now than in 2019 due to health conditions, costing employers £85bn a year, according to the review by former John Lewis boss Sir Charlie Mayfield.
A photo of a wooden wall. The words Love. Hope. Dream are written on the wall. Underneath, in a different handwriting, is the word Cum
0 – Pain free 1 – Very minor annoyance – occasional minor twinges. No medication needed. 2 – Minor annoyance – occasional strong twinges. No medication needed. 3 – Annoying enough to be distracting. Mild painkillers are effective (aspirin, ibuprofen) 4 – Can be ignored if you are really involved in your work, but still distracting. Mild painkillers relieve pain for 3-4 hours. 5 – Can't be ignored for more than 30 minutes. Mild painkillers reduce pain for 3-4 hours. 6 – Can't be ignored for any length of time, but you can still go to work and participate in social activities. Stronger painkillers (codeine, acetaminophen-hydrocodone) reduce pain for 3-4 hours. 7 – Makes it difficult to concentrate, interferes with sleep. You can still function with effort. Stronger painkillers are only partially effective. Strongest painkillers relieve pain (extended-release form of oxycodone, morphine) 8 – Physical activity severely limited. You can read and converse with effort. Nausea and dizziness set in as factors of pain. Strongest painkillers reduce pain for 3-4 hours. 9 – Unable to speak. Crying out or moaning uncontrollably – near delirium. Strongest painkillers are only partially effective. 10 – Unconscious. Pain makes you pass out. Strongest painkillers are only partially effective.
A photo of the paperback version of at The Existentialist Cafe: freedom, being, and apricot cocktails, by Sarah Bakewell
The goal is to get to know myself, with couage and curiosity
I’ve made the assumption (from experience) that, for lack of a better phrase, I’m the problem. I’m not cut out for the work of marketing and building an audience, and I essentially have to force myself in the least worst way possible.
Sometimes [growth is] holding yourself in place as you learn to be comfortable being in a different kind of way.
It’s a joy, to spend time with myself and learn who I am and how I tick, and spending that time is an act of self-love.
Here’s the thing, you get to move through your life with yourself, and that means through all of it, and all of you. Sitting with yourself and letting yourself feel all of your feelings is part of the journey.
Everything is a work in progress, but I can trust in how far I've come, and take my power from that.
maybe my pattern isn't one of (just) being uncomfortable with content creation or marketing myself, complicated by chronic illness
A photo of half a chocolate Easter egg. There's a cold set cheesecake inside (you can only see the filling part, not the base). The cheesecake is topped with caramel, munchies (cuboid chocolates that have a caramel and biscuit filling), and Cadbury mini eggs.
A photo of a cinema screen. The lights are up as I'm early. The screen shows 'Odeon, we make movies better'
A screenshot of an email that says 'Dear Gemma, Congratulations, you're now a BACP student member'
a copy of Dean Koontz's False Memory. A toke of a thriller at just over 800 pages
A photo of the book False Memory by Dean Koontz
A photo of an attendee badge. It has Manchester Tech Festival at the top, with my name, my role (founder) and my business name (SelfCare Backpack)
Community and glue work, Rachel Kibler
The mental workload podcast, coming 19th September
A photo of me in a booth. There is blue padding on the walls behind me I'm wearing a pair of headphones, and have a rode mic in front of me. You might say I'm gearing up to record a podcast
A photo of thunderclouds over white apartment buildings
A selfie. My hair is short, sitting as chin length at the back, moving up to cheek length at the front. My hair is curly
A screengrab of lightningmaps.org. The screengrab shows north Wales and North West England. Thunder and lightning is currently battering north Wales, and is slowly heading up to Manchester
A screenshot of an email from tiktok. The email subject says 'Maximise your shop's disability with Shop Tab!'
A cross stitch of a tarot card. The outline is purple, and at the bottom is the text The Moon, also in purple. There are blue clouds and a pink moon. There is pink on the clouds where light is reflected. There are pink stars dotted around
A vision board on my wall. In the middle is the word consistency. There are other words around the outside (sustainable focus, energy, me time, believe in yourself, keep walking, breath). There's a a tea pot, a pile of books, a photo of a jacket potato, and a clapper board to remind me to keep doing things I enjoy. There's a 'Stay Curious' sticker to remind me to do that. There's butterflies and space stickers to remind me of things I enjoy.
Negative self talk, as well as things like feelings of shame, anxiety, depression, work in absolutes and they snowball. I’ll never be able to do this, I’ll always be like this, it’s all my fault. The practice of being kind can help reframe our self talk, and that can help us push back against the absolutes and see ourselves clearly.
A bathroom selfie, I'm wearing a long burgamdy dress, a black mesh under bust corset. The vibes are impeccable
Join me for a 90min workshop on setting affirmations! We’ll dive into what affirmations mean, how to use them, then spend time creating your affirmation for 2024. 14th December, 6:30-8pm, Friends Meeting House. https://bit.ly/Dec2023Affirmations
A sign that reads 'Please ! Wash Your cups Used!
Three decorative thimbles. One is a metal one with a drawn map of Cyprus in a disc attached to it. One is porcelain with a portrait of a young queen Elizabeth II, and one porcelain one shaped like a mouse
Want a space to review your self care? Want someone to brainstorm with? Need a space of empathy to explore self care and wellness? Get a free 30min call at https://selfcarebackpack.com/self-care-coaching/
SelfCareBackpack Discord challenges. September: Gratitude October: Holiday Preparations November: Reflection December: Navigating the New Year January: Kind Accountability February: Romanticising Your Life
"It always felt easier to me to be self aware when I made it a joke, but I wasn’t allowing myself to feel the feelings attached to the awareness."
A photo of two pieces of card. The top one says 'look how far you've come' with a sticker of jellyfish. The second one says 'consistency over virality' and has transparent holographic stickers over the words. It also has a sticker of the moon cycle down the right hand side.
An almost finished cross stitch of the words 'do you guys ever think about dying'. Dying is in barbie-style font and colours
A photo of the spines of three books. The books are My Husband, by Maud Ventura, Patricia Wants To Cuddle, by Samantha Allen, and Bunny, by Mona Awad
A photo of A4 sheets of paper, with text printed on it. the text is annotated and highlighted in places. There is a mug of tea in the background
A pink background with the words 'Challenge your negative thoughts, give yourself grace'.
A slide with the words 'resilience requires relationships'
A photo of my right hand. My nails have a french maincure and the tips are a bright barbie pink
finished cross stitch: growth still happens when we're broken and it can be beautiful. The word beautiful is in rainbow thread