2026


Evidence that I am cared about

Date: July 26th, 2026 - August 1st, 2026


♡ Coworker pulled me aside to tell me that we make a great team and she appreciates me.
♡ In heavy traffic, someone made space for me to merge into their lane, so I could cross the street.
♡ My boyfriend surprised me with a gift.
♡ I received an adoable Draw Box submission.




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Attempted Social Murder

Date: July 22th, 2026



🎷 I spend nothing short of a sisyphean effort clawing my way through the work week during constant flare ups. Each day gets more difficult to take care of myself while fighting the urge to offload tasks that keep me alive. I am human. I am a soft and fragile being and requires food, water, and a clean body, yet my brain resists these tasks in favor of saving energy to keep up with my job.

Is this a psychological experiment? Come to work feverish, nauseated, embarrassingly brain fogged feeling like I was beaten from head to toe the day before, while expected to carry on business as usual? It's to the point where loved ones can understand why I'm tired of being alive all the time. What a surreal experience to witness them say.
I can't even put into words how much anguish I feel. I need a break, but I can't take one. I don't have a large enough safety net to catch me when I fall.



Why is my brain and body so abnormal that standard treatment does not help me physically or mentally? In fact, medication somehow altered my brain negatively. Did something happen that cannot be undone? Regardless, I am still trying to get better. I'm seeing a new new new therapist who wants to help me process my trauma among other things and seems very attentive so far. We have not started processing yet, but my nightmares have gotten worse just from filling out assessment paperwork LOL. Some buried memories that I have not thought about in years have come up. I feel shakey today. Hopefully I can ease some of these mental health issues at the very least !
I just need to keep my job...

🐈 Hmm but what about anything good lately? I went doll hunting but mostly stayed in the car because it hurt too much to walk, still had fun ! I finally started deep cleaning my room and I'm pretty sure the exertion of that made this flare up worse. The rest of my room can wait until I get better, but what was cleaned was a HUGE weight off me! Life hasn't been eventful apart from those...not that those were LOL. I go to work then come home and rest and/or work on my webbed site. Also? It's too HOT to do anything ! Why is is almost 120 real feel? and humid?..and it keeps storming.

Hopefully my next entry will be more positive.




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Water Lantern Festival

Date: May 28th, 2026




🏮Our date night was at the Water Lantern Festival. Luckily, the rain headed our way vanished from the radar and left us in the heat with enough of a breeze to still feel comfortable. Unlike most festivals here, the event was 90% sitting, which was why I was able to go.

The turnout was INSANE!! I thought it would fly under the radar, but 999.3 people showed up. Needless to say, I could not get a good seat for the performances, which was okay because it looked like spring break on the beach with all the people.

We sat in a less congested spot, enjoyed dinner then decorated our lanterns. I loved how it was basically a giant picnic, with so many smiling faces and cute outfits. The performers were local musicians and sang original songs and covers. There were also inspirational speakers and a short, guided meditation before the main event.

As the sun set, all of the lanterns glowing looked beautiful, along with sparkles of light in the crowd from flower crowns. We walked down to the lake and took turns sending our lanterns afloat, only for them to be carried back to the shoreline due to the current. It was a lovely view, but I was bummed because nature did what it wanted. At least it didn’t rain, and the current made for easy clean up. Overall, it was a nice experience but the type of event where it's one and done.




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Life

Date: January - May 2026



🖥️ Work: I wasn’t up to much outside of work. Upper management doesn’t run this company well, as far as leadership accountability is concerned, so some managers slacked off on their work for years. This resulted in me scrambling to straighten things out to prepare a few departments to be audit ready.. I have since been back to my normal work and projects. It was grueling, but at least the CEO and managers I helped thanked me over and over for my positivity, patience and hard work. One of the managers even got me a gift :) . This will likely happen again, unfortunately.

🍎Health: I was on PTO, down to my remaining days, so I had no choice but to consider legal protections especially since I am the only person who does this job.

I applied for FMLA because I hit a breaking point. I spent weeks and weeks dragging myself to work later and later, floating through my shift in a daze. I seemed to improve for a day or two, but my lows keep getting lower. Having FMLA is good to fall back on, but I still have to worry about how often I use it and when. I wish I could rest and attempt to recover when I need to. Having a full time job is so inherently neglectful to my health…

My therapist wanted me to consider short or long term disability or even regular disability. Previous ones have also said this. It’s painfully obvious to everyone that a full time job is not sustainable for me, but I am in no rush to have a reduced income and risk my job (if they decide I am disabled enough to cover part of my income) or to live in poverty after navigating the burdensome process of acquiring disability..

I’m also considering asking for remote work accommodations. I even have my own assigned work laptop, but it mostly gathers dust because work controls whether or not we wfh. I’ve had no luck getting a remote job, and my health is causing so much trouble that starting over would be risky, especially knowing FMLA wouldn’t carry over. I don’t trust HR, so I must tread carefully about this.

🆙Promotion: Long story short: The HR manager made a mistake with my promotion and sat on it for months until the CEO found out and told them to finalize it. I sadly will not get back pay and am bummed about not having that extra income to cushion my savings since my health keeps declining. Yet another situation in a pattern of behavior. Sure, this could have been an honest mistake that unfortunately cost me months of money, but their behavior towards me since I got hired does not make me confident in their intentions. Oh well !

🤪Fun: Let’s end this entry with some fun. I haven’t gone out much due to my health, and have been mostly resting outside of work lol. I was able to get out and go to the park and lay out on the grass. Went in person to shop at the mall. I’m proud of myself for walking more, even if it wasn’t long ! Watched movies, which I keep forgetting to keep track of!!, ate good food, bought new Monster High Dolls, started growing food. Not the most eventful stretch of months, but as cozy as things can be considering the current state of things.




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Edible

Date: April 13th, 2026



🌱 We have dabbled with growing small vegetables like green onions, but we may turn this hobby into something more sustainable, for now. Worth a try at least ! Good thing we've been storing seeds for a rainy day.

So far, we have started small and will increase the size of our pots as we go on. We'll figure out storage soon since growing food isn't allowed in our neighborhood, which is one reason why it stayed a small hobby this long. We also all have different needs when it comes to food restrictions, so there will be a variety of fruits and veggies to try to grow.

Let's see how this goes, starting off with Lettuce, Strawberries, Cilantro, and Bell Peppers ! Growing strawberries was a core memory as a kid ^u^ !




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Window Shopping

Date: March 1st 2026



🛏️ My fatigue is so bad outside of the work week, that I spend half of the weekend in bed. Something changed last week. I felt a different kind of tired because the world was passing me by while I was just lying there. Sometimes it's good to push myself to do the opposite of what my body wants me to do. I would deal with the consequences later! What better motivation than going to one of my favorite restaurants? They do not deliver, so we had to dine in. The food was HEAVEN, as usual.

🔥 We left the restaurant to head home until I realized I had to pee. I avoid public restrooms like the plague, but desperate times had me not wanting to risk peeing myself. Stopping at the bookstore to use the restroom has it's perks. The smell of coffee and pastries at the cafe had me floating on air, and of course we couldn't leave without browsing. I also people watched here and there and was reminded of my emo/goth days after seeing groups of alternative teens flood the manga section.

There were so many people there. Way more than normal! Some alone and others in groups browsing, laughing, studying and doing their own thing. I am guilty of doomscrolling, so being out and about and seeing people be people reminded me that the world isn't as bad as social media portrays. I can't believe how easy that is to forget once a screen is in front of my face, which is why I detox often!

Also, I LOVE displays!!! So glad we stopped there ! Sometimes I wish I could quit my job and create displays in stores. I wonder if that task would be as peaceful and creative as I imagine. At least I can mess with my own displays at home to get it out my system.

I walked away empty handed! Nothing stood out to me although a lot caught my eye. Nice outing. I felt like garbage/sick but...COPE! No bed rotting for me!




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Therapy

Date: February 16th, 2026


Therapy has been an ordeal. Not therapy itself, but gaining access to it. Long story short, I dropped my first therapist (mentioned in a past entry) due to the company's shady billing practices.

Not long after, I found another therapist that seemed like a good fit (sadly, doesn't have extensive experience with autistic/ADHD folks), but.... insurance happened. I had to advocate for myself continuously because I was charged LARGE bills out of network. After the burning rage dissipated, I sought solutions with customer service after I cooled off. (lies, lies, lies with them..except two people)

I came out of that situation exhausted, but proud of myself for hammering the insurance company…creating paper trails, documenting calls, getting employee IDs, and gathering evidence to prove she was in network! What's frustrating was that the success was after they "reduced" my bill while still charging out of network... as if to get me to shut up and move on. They felt my wrath because I continued to fight them. I was going to report them to the state if that last effort was futile, but they must have sensed I was at my last straw LOL. I hope this doesn't happen again, but have learned a lot from this situation, and it was a......good exercise for dealing with anger.

During that ordeal, my therapist was understanding and did not cancel my reoccurring appointments, to make sure no one took my slots. I was able to see her as soon as my claim was fixed. I appreciate how she tries to get to know me, especially this early on. She incorporates my hobbies into my coping skills, and we had a show and tell with our artwork. Her homework isn't given offhandedly with no further check in like other therapists have done. It makes me look forward to seeing her every week. It's a strange feeling. I am interested in what she has to say. She also has voice that belongs in a meditation video.

Something that I find funny is that she mentioned being happy to work with someone who knows the terminology and speaks her language. I have been dropped by many therapists for being "too complex" (aka handful of physical/Mental health issues), so I had to research and try to help myself while learning therapeutic methodology and coping skills. I didn't expect that type of acknowledgement, but it was nice.

Maybe I should become a therapist..joking.



I’m hoping she sticks with me and can help me improve my life. I know change is slow, so I will wait patiently.




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