Strongshape - Mishmash

Being misunderstood is difficult, but it’s okay. Let them misunderstand you. Be so unwavering in your commitment to yourself that no one can take that away from you. You know yourself better than anyone else does. They might never understand, and that sucks, but you can validate yourself even when they don’t. Give yourself the love and validation others won’t - you deserve it. The way you understand yourself is valid even if others see it differently <3.

Adapted from Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

What is a need? (Adapted from this article)

It’s important to be connected to our needs because true needs are always in our best long term interest. Our needs for air, food, water, shelter, community, companionship, autonomy, respect, etc. are all in our best long term interest to fulfill.

Wants, on the other hand, don’t necessarily correlate with long term well-being. In fact, many wants, when fulfilled, actually contribute to our long term detriment.

Put another way: needs refer to the conditions that must be met in order for us to live a balanced life; whereas wants are strategies we use to fulfill our needs. This is why needs inherently map to long term well-being, while wants don’t have such a correlation. Wants can either contribute to our long-term wellbeing, or they contribute to our long-term detriment. In order for our wants to be good for us in the long-term, we must understand which needs they map back to.

Ideally, we should be connected to our needs first, and our wants second. When we become disconnected from our needs due to past trauma, we rely too heavily on our wants to guide our decision making. The disconnection from our needs increases the likelihood that we will attach to wants that lead to our long-term detriment. 

A traditional + digital art combo featuring a cat creature 🌸🐱

I’ve really been enjoying mixing traditional with digital lately and this one will also be turned into an mini animation soon ☺️

I hope you’re having a great week 🫶

things people don’t talk about enough with cptsd:

feeling like you’re back in traumatic situations when you get triggered/overreacting to perceived threats

not trusting people easily and pushing people away when triggered

increased risk of ending up in abusive/toxic environments

feeling exhausted for long periods of time

physical symptoms like nausea, migraines, body pain

regularly feeling guilty or embarrassed

feeling “different”, “damaged”, or “dirty”

not trusting your own feelings

relapsing after a major trigger

being uncertain of identity

intrusive thoughts of being harmed

experiencing age regression

compulsive masturbation/hypersexuality

attempts to avoid abandonment

over-communicating while feeling scared of true vulnerability

addictive and adrenaline-seeking personality traits

feeling the need to keep things secret or rebel

@tinybuddha

things that seem small can be really brave:

getting up in the morning

asking for help

stopping when you know you’ve pushed yourself too hard

admitting when you were in the wrong

forgiving yourself

making an effort even when you don’t have the motivation

reaching out to others when you feel alone

+ much more