❇️ Day 12 - Petals of Progress Challenge ❇️
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to nurture our minds with kindness and honour the courage it takes to grow, even in small ways. 🌱
Today's activity will help you reflect on your strengths, challenges, and connections in a gentle, creative way. Like a tree, you’ve weathered storms and stretched toward light, let’s celebrate your story! 💚
Create Your Tree of Life Using the Guide Below
1️⃣ Roots (🪵 Where I come from):
- Family, cultural traditions, childhood rituals.
2️⃣ Trunk (🌳 Skills & values):
- What makes you "you"?
3️⃣ Branches (🌿 Hopes & dreams):
- Future goals, big or small.
4️⃣ Leaves (🍃 Important people):
- Alive, passed, pets, or mentors.
5️⃣ Fruit (🍎 Gifts received):
- Love, lessons, kindness from others.
6️⃣ Storms (⛈️ Challenges):
- Losses, stress, or ongoing battles.
7️⃣ Ground (🌍 Present life):
- Daily routines, small joys, where you live.
How to Participate 🎨
- Use the photo guide (attached) to structure your tree.
- Doodle, collage, or write
༺🌳༻ Share or Reflect ༺🌳༻
- Post a snapshot of your tree in the replies or keep it private.
Remember 💚:
“Trees grow stronger through storms. Your growth matters, even when it’s slow.” 🌱
@Angelanj
What a lovely idea for a beautiful creative project. I look forward to exploring this for myself.
@Clio9876 Thank you! Looking forward to your response 💗
@Angelanj
1️⃣ Roots (🪵 Where I come from):
- I am 3rd generation, European descent, born on Trety 6 Lands (Saskatchewan),residing & recreating on Treaty 7 Lands (Alberta), of Turtle Island (aka Canada)
2️⃣ Trunk (🌳 Skills & values):
- I identify as she/her, they them. I follow tantra. I am motivated, talented, caring, funny, daring and resilient. I have witnessed/watched & experienced many things from 1970s - present.
3️⃣ Branches (🌿 Hopes & dreams):
- Future goals, big or small.
Small goals - for divided (any side) to come together, to talk, if only to work towards 'understanding, acceptance'/neutral ground.
Big goals win the lottery! lol
4️⃣ Leaves (🍃 Important people):
- Everyone - good, bad, ugly, hurtful. anti-LGBTQ2S+, anti-Canadian (aka (separation-based). Stress on the 'leaves' requires to be attentive (and building strong connections) when 'division/disconeection - based on 'rhetoric/mis'dis-information/ social pressure happens.
5️⃣ Fruit (🍎 Gifts received):
- 1) Stop. Look. Listen. Learn. 2) Know when to speak up vs. not (complicated, but can be achieved with life experience). 3) Always know there is tomorrow - maybe not what you wanted - but it is there - to grow new leaves.
6️⃣ Storms (⛈️ Challenges):
- From everything I have witnessed and experienced on these 59 revolutions around the sun.......the most storms that stick out is the 'retraction/restriction' happening on LGBTQ2S+ human rights, as well as the 'long arm' of 47 USA to other countries (ie DEI), as negotiating tactics.
In a nutshell - politics are a storm, back-and-forth protections for LGBTQ2S+ persons is a storm.
Everything that is happening is a 'storm'.
7️⃣ GroFromund (🌍 Present life):
- Daily routines, small joys, where you live.
@WalkingSoftly Thank you for sharing! 💗🫂
@Angelanj This is cute, but just reminded me I have no "leaves" except my therapist and my dad from time to time. Leading cause for depression is loneliness and misunderstanding so it makes sense. It always baffles me how in self-help, people are encouraged to speak to loved ones. If we had those loved ones that get us, we wouldn't be so depressed to start with.