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xxx■ user | rodentspawn
xxx■ name | cortex; in reference to the
xxxcerebral cortex responsible for higher
xxxbrain function like thought and action
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╔═════════╗xxx■ extra art | heck idk if this counts but
xxx■ click clickxxx "I am better than I wasxxx I will be better than I am"╚═════════╝
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411/500
F I V E | things i can see
One, my own pale hands, blue paint still creating watercolour art that pops against its light background, and though they shake they are still beautiful. Two, various knick knacks from both recent years and my childhood alike, sitting in their exact spots upon my bookshelf, looking down at me from their perch. Three, the fur of my cat still curled at the foot of my bed, though she isn’t sleeping anymore, we stare at one another in the dim light and she blinks, silently tells me she understands, and it helps. Four, the knitted blanket thrown across the rock tile floor, tossed aside in my sleep hazed panic. Five, the window panes, open wide for the crisp early summer air to pass through.
F O U R | things i can touch
One, my hands slide over the slate flooring, grazing the bumps and imperfects that I see much like my own. Two, my hair, too soft and falling in my eyes like snow even as I try to hopelessly push it back. Three, the coolness of the wall against my back, hard and chilled but grounding. Four, the wetness on my cheeks that is slowly fading as the leftover tears sink into my skin.
T H R E E | things i can hear
One, my own breathing, still audible as it bounces off the empty edges of the room, but calmer, I notice, than when I started counting. Two, the gentle /swish, swish/ of the silk curtains swaying as wind pushes through the window, they dance so elegantly in the early morning light. Three, the hum of the street lamps outside, like they are saying farewell before the sun breaks over the mountain and they can click off and enjoy their own rest.
T W O | things i can smell
One, fresh linens, cotton to be exact, the ones I washed yesterday and placed over my mattress, the smell of laundry detergent and cleanliness still hangs in the air around them. Two, dew, wet grass before the world wakes up and the sun dries the moisture, the distinct naturistic smell of dawn.
O N E | thing i can taste
One, peppermint from scrubbing my teeth clean hours ago, the mint itself does something to spark me back to reality, if only just a little part in the bigger role of this exercise.
The anxiety never really goes away, but it fades, it subsides and the feeling is like coming up for air after living a century underwater.
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■ Explanation | The grounding mechanism I chose to
write about from the view of this Kalon I believe is called the 5-4-3-2-1 coping method? I chose this because I was told about it by a therapist a few years ago and it has proven to be the only grounding exercise that actually helps me, someone diagnosed with anxiety and OCD. Of course things work different for everyone and what works for me might not work for you, I speak only of my own experience in my own unique situation. ♡
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