Trauma Support Community Check-in: Saturday , 31 October 2020
Hello everyone!
🧟🧟🎃🎃
Today is Halloween🧡. Yay! In my country, we are celebrating Sveti Luka.
I hope you are doing great and that you are taking care of yourself and others.
I just thought about asking you some questions. If you want feel free to answer them!
🧟♀️ How are you feeling today? (Simple but hard question at the same time)
🎃 What will you do today for yourself? (Have a relaxing bath, have makeup, or run, or go out with your friends, or read a book...)
🧟♀️ How does that ⬆️ thing make you feel? (relaxed, less stressed, happy, bad...)
🎃 Does Halloween have any special meaning for you? If it does what?
🧟♀️ And the last question, will you dress up for Halloween? What is your go-to costume?
I hope I did my first check-in good. Take care!
Elena XOXO
@elizabethunter, hey there.
🧟1. How are you feeling today?
I felt blank. I'm often out of words in this question. 
2. 🎃 What will you do today for yourself? (Have a relaxing bath, have makeup, or run, or go out with your friends, or read a book...)
I'll either draw something or play a video game,
🧟3. How does that ⬆️ thing make you feel? (relaxed, less stressed, happy, bad...)
Both of the activities are relaxing and a bit tiring.
4. 🎃 Does Halloween have any special meaning for you? If it does what?
The meaning isn't that special. For me, Halloween is the sign that my birthday is near. I'd rather not tell when that day is. 
5. Will you dress up for Halloween? What is your go-to costume?
I won't dress up for Halloween this year, But, my usual go-to costume was a white outfit with ketchup stains as "blood".
Thanks for the check-in and take care.
@LovelyOrangeJuice
Thank you for answering! I love your costume. It's nice and simple but creative. Since I don't know your birthday, but now I know it is soon: Happy birthday!!!
Take care!
@elizabethunter
How are you feeling today? (Simple but hard question at the same time)
Happy, still on a high from my date yesterday
🎃 What will you do today for yourself? (Have a relaxing bath, have makeup, or run, or go out with your friends, or read a book...)
Not sure, relax in bed, chat with friends, drink coffee.
🧟♀️ How does that ⬆️ thing make you feel? (relaxed, less stressed, happy, bad...)
Little sad I don't have anything more productive to do. But mostly relaxed
🎃 Does Halloween have any special meaning for you? If it does what?
Not really, did not grow up celebrating it
🧟♀️ And the last question, will you dress up for Halloween? What is your go-to costume?
I'm too self conscious to dress up 😕
@Madaraismyspiritanimal
Okay, nice! I hope your date went well. I also love coffee and my brother makes literally the best one. Sometimes relaxing in bed with some tea or some other drink is all we need.
Thank you for answering! Take care! 
@elizabethunter
Hi Elena !
What a timely Check-In !
Is Sveti Luka identical to American Halloween ? Or is it different ?
My answers:
How are you feeling today?
I am feeling hopeful.
What will you do today for yourself?
I will listen to music and play a little the piano (I am learning)
How does that thing make you feel?
I feel like in Heaven listening to music I love. Relaxed, focused, happy…
Almost the same with the piano, not that relaxed, but very intensely focused.
Does Halloween have any special meaning for you? If it does what?
No, it doesn’t have any meaning at all for me. When I was a child, there was no Halloween in my country. It’s a very recent cultural import, adopted mostly by youngsters, who would use any excuse to organize parties (BC), and kids, who do the full package.
Will you dress up for Halloween? What is your go-to costume?
A Venetian mask.
It feels nice to be in your check-in...
All the best !
Marcelo
@WelcomeToChat
It is not anything like it. Of course, some people here are celebrating Halloween, but many families celebrate this day because their elders did. So, it is some sort of tradition. Today we gather and have some lunch, with some prayers and celebration bread. (pictures down below) Have some wine and enjoy our cousin's company... Of course, Sveti Luka isn't the only saint we celebrate. There is Sveti Jovan, Sveti Nikola, Sveti Sava, and many many others.
Yes, young people (including me) will take anything as a reason to throw a party, hahaha.
Thank you for answering! Take care!
@elizabethunter
Is Sveti Luka the same as Saint Luke, the Evangelist ?
I sang The Passion according to St. Luke (or "St. Luke Passion") by Bach in my choir. So, while I am not a particularly religious person, I read St. Luke Gospel, and I love his writing there.
Have a wonderful Celebration !
Marcelo.
@WelcomeToChat
Yes, yes it is. I am not very religious person either so I didnt know it hahha.
🧟♀️ How are you feeling today? (Simple but hard question at the same time)
I woke up feeling Overwhelmed. That has Dissapated, but I have a mess in the Kitchen I need to clean up.
🎃 What will you do today for yourself? (Have a relaxing bath, have makeup, or run, or go out with your friends, or read a book...)
The Usual of going to the Barn and Feeding and spending time with my Horses and feeding and spending time and talking to my African Grey, Breezy.
🧟♀️ How does that ⬆️ thing make you feel? (relaxed, less stressed, happy, bad...)
Both things relax me and make me happy.
🎃 Does Halloween have any special meaning for you? If it does what?
Not really, grew up Trick or Treating, but now that I'm an adult, it's lost it's meaning.
🧟♀️ And the last question, will you dress up for Halloween? What is your go-to costume?
I am not dressing up this year.
@Breezy2013
Thank you for answering! I hope you are feeling well now.
I looooove horses. Absolutely adore them. How many do you have? And is Breezy a parrot?
Take care!
@Breezy2013 Oh an African Grey! They are so cool! Does he talk?
@elizabethunter Hey :) nice to meet you - great first checkin!
Today hasn't been too bad. I had a nice morning talking with someone that I really enjoy talking to. There's a very difficult choice that needs to be made soon so there's some depression and anxiety - I can't seem to have one without the other lurking somewhere
Today will be spent outside cleaning up leaves. The house is surrounded by trees so there's about a gazillion of them. Later - a run through the woods under the full moon
Mainly it helps me feel productive - I don't think I've been too much of that lately
I enjoy the concept of it I guess - the lore behind it. There's some really neat things out there to decorate with
Lol - probably not. Allthough my ratty is a pirat for Halloween :) Besides - I'm often my own monster lol :)
Thank you for the check in - I hope you have a good weekend - take care :)
@mytwistedsoul
Wow, running through woods on Halloween during the full moon??? Brave...
Just kidding, that sounds amazing. Hahaha, that's amazing. He has his own costume.
Thank you for answering and take care! 
@elizabethunter It is a great check-in!
I have been feeling somewhat confused today. I will be staying at home for Halloween. I might watch a horror themed movie with my dog. I have plans to have dinner with a friend day after tomorrow. I am looking forward to that
@hillsideblues
Okay, that sounds fun to me! I would be excited about it too. Which movie will you watch/ or you have watched?
Thank you for answering! Take care and enjoy your weekend.
@elizabethunter I will probably watch the night before christmas or hocus pocus!
@hillsideblues Hocus Pocus is so funny! Amuck amuck amuck! Have fun :)
@hillsideblues
Great, thank you! I am maybe gonna watch it too, hahah!
I'm feeling pretty good! I'm planning on playing animal crossing and watching horror movies with my brother today, Those make me feel pretty good. Halloween has some good memories socioated with it and it reminds me of my best friend I'm not going to dress up for halloween but if I did I would dress as up as Joan of Arc from Clone high
@EdenBeta
Oooh, yes. Does she have some short pink hair? That sounds familiar to me.
Thank you for answering! Take care! ❤️
@Elizabeth Messaging is disabled on your L account. Please advise.
@Regmo
Yes, because I am a teen listener. Have you tried talking to some adult ones? You know, going to Browse Listeners and there you find someone. I would love to chat with you but since we cant I can advise you to text some adult listener. We have amazing ones. I know i didnt help a lot, but if there is anything i can help you with, just tag me here and reply to this comment. Take care!
@elizabethunter I had this operation when I was in junior high school. I had something called a torsion, and it cut off the circulation to one of my testicles. I had to have it amputated. I'm talking to my therapist about this but it's something that needs more exploration. I think it gave me a lot of insecurity when it came to my relationships with women because I never know if they are going to be compassionate or think I'm a freak of nature. Medically everything went smoothly, but I think it traumatized me at the subconscious level.
@Regmo
Yeah, i understand how you feel. It is very rough for you and I understand that completely.
@elizabethunter What? I don't get it. You had a testicle removed? Or did you have a major operation in junior high school? How did it effect your relationship with the opposite gender?
@elizabethunter
How are you feeling today? (Simple but hard question at the same time) tired, sugar high hehehe, but not bad.
🎃 What will you do today for yourself? (Have a relaxing bath, have makeup, or run, or go out with your friends, or read a book...) talk to friends
🧟♀️ How does that ⬆️ thing make you feel? (relaxed, less stressed, happy, bad...) happy I always love talking to my cups friends.
🎃 Does Halloween have any special meaning for you? If it does what?
🧟♀️ And the last question, will you dress up for Halloween? What is your go-to costume? I was thing 1 from Dr. Seuss.
@Fireskye13
Thats nice, thank you for answering this!
Trigger warning: abuse and drama.
I'm doing ok. Spent all day thinking of whether I should tell a family friend about the emotional abuse and past physical abuse by my parents. My mother buys her friends with expensive gifts so 1 family friend I told sided with my mother.. my mother pays that family's phone plan. My mother made jokes with her friend about her the abusive things she says but changed it so the victim was her husband. Really, I'm the one she says those dismissive "you deserve it", "its not my fault" to. She only did it because earlier I didn't respond to her attempts to upset me and she knew I could hear her (didn't have headphones on). Friend did laughed but then corrected her. Mother interrupted, deflected, and kept joking...
Idk if I trust the friend or not but my mother admitting her abuse right there in the form of a joke tells me she's feeling bold and needs to be knocked down a peg. If I do, I may get kicked out. Maybe the answer is not responding at all. I want her friends support because she watched me grow up... do I need it though? What would it do for me that current supporters have already done for me (which I appreciate)?
Ugh. So tired of this never ending drama.