Ten keys to mental healthy-ness

1. Truth telling 

This one is the most important!

Mental health is the conformity of my mind with reality. It sounds really simple, but when we are not feeling well things can go sideways.

My family are NOT truth tellers. In fact, they tell BIG lies and then defend them fiercely.

It has taken me many years to fully get this step.

2. Inventory 

The unexamined life is not worth living – Socrates.

In order to find the truth, we need to take inventory of every part of our lives including our childhood experiences. This needs to happen not once, but needs to happen constantly. Examining our motives and looking closely at our behavior helps us to be honest.

3. Healthy eating 

This one is hard if you turn to junk food when you are not travelling well.

4. Avoid drugs and alcohol

I think they have their place. Alcohol saved me from suicide when I was in an impossible situation. Generally, I don’t recommend drugs or alcohol for your mental health.

5. Hobbies and interests

If we are going to live with purpose, interest and hobbies can help us find meaning and purpose in our lives.

7. Exercise 

Even if it is just walking, exercise can help our mental health.

6. Gratitude 

This little word is just SO important to help us see the good in our lives.

8. Read books and watch stuff that give you a positive vibe

I watch a lot of true crime stuff, airplane disasters, and disturbing movies, but I do offset it with positive stuff too.

9. Groups

Groups are a powerful way to improve mental health. When we see we are not alone things seem less overwhelming.

10. Sleep

Lack of good sleep had me suicidal at one point in my life. My medication helps me to have good sleep.

Worth. A movie about compensation for the families that lost loved ones in the 9/11 disaster

In the movie 

Worth, the line “Remember that you’re not the bridge” is spoken by Charles Wolf (played by Stanley Tucci) to Kenneth Feinberg (Michael Keaton) during a pivotal moment of self-doubt. 

The phrase carries a deep metaphorical meaning regarding empathy and the burden of fixing a broken system: 

  • You Are Not the Solution Alone: Wolf uses the metaphor to remind Feinberg that he is not the structure connecting the victims to their peace or the past to the future. The “bridge” (the legal formula and the fund) is fundamentally broken—or as Wolf later says, it is “rubble“—and Feinberg cannot hold it up by sheer force of will or logic.
  • Release from Impossible Responsibility: Feinberg is struggling with the realization that his rigid formula cannot account for the unique value of every life lost. By saying “you’re not the bridge,” Wolf is telling him to stop trying to be the perfect, unbreakable link between the government and the victims. It encourages him to stop being a “numbers cruncher” and start being a human being.
  • Human Connection Over Bureaucracy: The advice signals a shift in the film’s philosophy. It suggests that while the “bridge” (the fund) may be flawed or destroyed, the people involved—the “rubble”—are still there. It’s an invitation for Feinberg to step off his professional pedestal and simply walk among the survivors, listening to them rather than trying to “fix” their grief with a calculator. 

Ultimately, the quote serves as the catalyst for Feinberg’s redemption arc, moving him from a rules-driven attorney to a compassionate humanitarian who understands that some things cannot be fully mended, only witnessed. 

I know I will be able to use this saying to help me in the future. It also reminds me of: ‘Carry the message, not the person’ which is a little bit similar. G

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new food pyramid

I’ve finally found the key to my weight loss. I’ve stopped eating carbohydrates.

When I mean stopped, I mean I’m on a low carb diet. No more bread products. No more biscuits: savory or sweet. No more potato chips. No pasta or noodles…and I also continue with my low-sugar diet. (sugar = carbs). I will occasionally eat brown rice that has been precooked (by Me). This de-carb’s the rice.

While eating carbs I get: weight gain, Inflammation: Bloating and reflux.

Before doing this, I was 116 kilograms. Now I’m under 100 kilograms. My correct weight is 80kg, so a way to go yet.

Gavin.

I Love techno music

I’m almost 60 years old and I still love techno. Not commercial techno but underground techno, the kind of music you may hear at Berghain (dance club) in Berlin. This post is for content catnip.

I grew up with Jeff Mills, Riche Hawtin and Laurent Garnier, but today I’m much more into:

Ø [Phase]

Ashley Burchett. Ø [Phase] has been a driving force in techno for over two decades, leading the movement with his prototypical, stripped-back sound. Since cutting his teeth at Sony Music London as a mastering engineer in the late ’90s, he’s paved his way unapologetically, often challenging audiences in his relentless pursuit of pure artistry…

Ø [Phase]

His older albums are OK but his EPs are brilliant. I can listen to him for hours at a time.

DVS1

Zak Khutoretsky, also known as DVS1 is an American DJ and techno producer based out of Minneapolis. I particularly like his remixes of other Techno artists rather than his own albums.

Heiko Laux

German DJ and producer based in Berlin. Once again, I like his EPs and remixes more than his albums. Very listenable music. You can have a cocktail and sink into his music. The German/Berlin influence is strong here too.

Ness

Andrea Deplano. Italian DJ and electronic music producer (deep techno/ambient soundscapes). Yet again I like his EPs and remixes more than his albums. (Although I have also just bought his latest album).

I can get really lost in this music…and I love to get lost 😀

There are SO many more that I could list: Psyk, Norman Nodge, Radio Slave, Sandwell District, Setaoc Mass, Shed, Silent Servant and Substance. So many amazing musicians. G