[CopperChaos]

Wild Mountain Equids

This one is a little late but May was Mental Health Awareness Month and mental health is something I am passionate about. A lot of the time when we think about mental health we think of labels, diagnoses, and what it’s like to struggle with them. Mental health is so much more than labels and diagnoses though. Everyone one of us experiences it, good or bad, and that means we experience may symptoms even if the aren’t “textbook” definitions. Each of you is uniquely you and experiences will always vary. Part of bringing awareness to mental health is to highlight these things too. When we understand the challenges we face we can use our awareness and skills to take care of ourselves and manage our mental health.

5th in this theme is confusion. Confusion can manifest as difficulty concentrating, disoriented thinking, brain fogginess, and trouble distinguishing reality from fantasy. It’s both a normal experience and a symptom of not only mental health concerns but also physical health concerns. I particularly wanted to highlight this trait, to identify the strong overlap between physical and mental health. Both make up our wellness and are important to take care of.

For me, confusion is so broad and the best summary of my experience is simply feeling off or not all there one day. For this girl I wanted the quipping to demonstrate this flowing in and out of concentration,seamless interruptions of our line of thinking. It’s also why I gave her a soft coat color instead of high contrast because we aren’t always aware of symptoms like confusion until someone points it out for us too. It softly permeates our thinking and alter our reality.

Current Owner: iShame

Name: Inaldi
Height: 12.2 hh
Gender: Mare
Coat Color: Light Bay Pearl Tobiano
Quipping: Seamless Swirl
Eye: Blue / Brown Heterochromia
Type: Regular

*This equid is apart of the Mental Health Theme, it must follow theme equid restrictions. Certain themes cannot pass themed traits. For more information check out the Info Centre*

To win this adopt, I want to break through some of the stigma about confusion! Not being able to pay attention or stay engaged isn’t always our fault, but can be tied to much much more than being distractible. To enter I want you to answer the short writing prompts below about this Equid. Judging will be based on name, personality, and the answers to the prompt.

[stabbrielle]

Username: Stabbrielle
Name: Annaliese
Height:
Personality:
What helps her remember things or stay on task?

[iShame]

Username: iShame
Name: Inaldi
Height: 12.2hh
Personality: Inaldi plays the part of a strong decisive leader very well, to those that do not look past her face value. To those that pay attention a mare with selective memory who is affraid of letting others down really shows. She can stay on task fairly well; until you talk to her when she is doing something simple. She loves to spend time with others, despite not being able to remember half of them, and truly enjoys the young foals.
What helps her remember things or stay on task? She remembers things by actions. That mare over there? Her name is Fleur, because Inaldi once passed her on a moonlight walk; silver moon just like the mares markings. That stallion? His name is Soryn, and she remembers this because of how he flys through the local pasture, and she had to stop and stare. Inaldi captures memories through the actions she did, or through the actions of others at the time of meeting them. It is similar to locations; she remembers how to get to the large watering hole after she took a walk with a stallion she once had a crush on; that particular route ingrained more deeply than others. If she is simply lounging about, or doing a mundane task like grazing or napping, she is most certainly going to forget anything you've told her.

[Nalena]

Username: Nalena
Name: Melody
Height: 11.3hh
Personality: Aloof, Charismatic, Clumsy, Dainty, and Whimsical
What helps her remember things or stay on task? Melody is very VERY easily distracted. her mind goes 1000mph at all times, so melody discovered that is she listens to music it actually helps her stay focused AND her memory! The constant music helps her focus on that and whats in front of her instead of letting other thoughts crowd and take over, because of the music shes also realized that her memory is tied to songs! If shes listening to a song when she learns something OR even puts something down, if she hears that same song again she will INSTANTLY know where the thing is or start thinking about what she learned that day!

[Butter Dragon]

Username: Butter Dragon
Name: Shiro
Height: 13 hh
Personality: Shiro is a very kind mare, she isn’t very outgoing but those who have the privilege of knowing her get to feel the warmth of her love any time she is around. Although kind and well meaning, Shiro is not without her struggles, but she tries, and in her world view trying is always all you can of someone. She often finds herself struggling to stay in reality, things slipping into a dream-like feeling. Though sometimes she is simply numb, other times this feeling is quite frightening to her. It is this that often drives her to seek companionship, and as such she cares for her friends far beyond what words can express. She’s fiercely loyal, and though she tries to be understanding she is quick to jump to the defense of those she loves over those she doesn’t know even when the situation isn’t so one-sided.

Though not a diva, she doesn’t prefer activities that require getting dirty or roughing it, instead she is much more interested in calm activities and discussions she can chew on. She prefer to leave the mud rolling to her more adventurous herd mates. Although she doesn’t talk of it much, she is ravenous for knowledge and especially is always seeking more information on the plants native to her stomping grounds. She suspects that many may have properties that can serve them beyond just sustenance, but so far she keeps these ‘outlandish’ ideas to herself until she can prove her theories correct through using them to help others.
What helps her remember things or stay on task? In a word, company. Shiro’s greatest struggle is staying grounded in reality, having someone there to talk to her, to remind her that the rest of the world does in fact exist, is the easiest way she has found to stay mentally present. Sadly, company isn’t a constant, and she has had to find secondary ways of focusing her thoughts. Taking a cue from her best coping mechanism, she usually seeks out a low level of inconsistent noise. Too much will be overwhelming, and if it is too constant it will fade into background noise. Thus, she tends to sit at the edge of the woods to achieve her perfect noise level. The birds will chirp, their conversations ebbing and flowing, louder at times and quieter at others. Occasionally a squirrel with rustle a bush before starting back up a tree. These small noises, coming from fellow living creatures, remind Shiro of that she is not alone even when she feels so far from even her own company.

[Expresso.]

Username: expresso.
Name: Noble or just Belle
Height: 14.3
Personality: Endearing, eager to please, flexible, sociable, distractible
What helps her remember things or stay on task?
Noble or Belle has small little trick up her sleeve. She puts a clip in her tail for each uncompleted important task she has remaining. Belle has always been a distractible equid. She often feels overwhelmed by tasks and moves from one task to another quickly. Initially she was putting clips in her hair for every task she didn’t finish. But she found it too overwhelming because the tasks just built up and she forgot what most of them were. Now, there is a triage system. She will only put the important ones as a clip in her tail. This is a great way to remember because if things aren’t important then they’ll come up eventually again or never need to be done - ensuring Belle isn’t going to be too overwhelmed!

And also she had a pretty clipped tail most of the time

[Verdana]

Username: Verdana
Name: Chladni
Height: 14'1hh
Personality:
Chladni is chronically indecisive. Even a seemingly obvious choice can paralyse her, and she is strongly influenced by the desires and expressed interests of those around her. She will go with the group whenever possible, and feels most at ease when there is consensus. She hates to be alone, and fears being disliked, so she has become the life of any gathering she enters: funny, quick-witted, playful and joyful. Her smile is infectious and her confidence is striking... Up until she is asked to make a quick decision. Then it all falls away to the classic Gemini personality that is Chladni, and she is suddenly frozen in place.

What helps her remember things or stay on task?

She calls it The Prep System, and it is a four-step acronym that helps her to remain on trajectory when a surprise Choice jumps out at her.
P - riority
R - isk
E - njoyment
P - eer Pressure

1. Priority
If she finds herself at a crossroads, Chladni first asks: Is this task her main priority right now? If it is not, and there is something that needs doing more urgently, she will delay the choice for a time when it is of higher priority. If the choice in front of her is or becomes the Highest Priority thing, she will move to the next step:

2. Risk
Does one or more of these choices pose a greater or lesser risk to her? Choices that lead to her demise are an instant 'no thank you', but she considers risk to reputation, friendship, stability, sleep, as well as physical risk. If there is one choice that offers the least risk without compromising on reward, she will take that option. However, most Choices are not so binary, and if the risk-reward weigh-ups are more complex, she moves to step 3:

3. Enjoyment
Which of the Choices would she enjoy most?
Is she being offered foods, with one being a clear favourite? Heck yeah, pick the best one! Sometimes, she gets so locked into place by Choices, that she forgets to trust herself. She knows what she likes, but sometimes has to remind herself of it, and reassure herself that she is allowed to choose based on preference. Of course, this can be influenced by Step 4:

4. Peer Pressure
Is the Choice she is being pushed into her own, or is someone else guiding the choice? It can be hard to see whose hooves make which lines sometimes, and stepping away to see who else is involved in the Choice and what they have to gain or lose, helps her to differentiate her goals from those of others. Then she can weigh this against precisely how badly she wants to please this equid, at this time.

*5. In case of a non-result: LEAF RACE
When utterly in doubt (and often her PREP system leads to a dead end), Chladni will pluck leaves, one for each Choice, and carry them to a nearby stream. She lets them go at once, and the leaf to go the fastest and furthest represents the Choice she made. If she is VERY disappointed by that outcome, you'd think maybe she would know her preference and do that either way, right?

Wrong. She ALWAYS follows the outcome of Leaf Race if that point is reached. Outcomes vary as much as you'd expect.

[S h e b s t e r]

Username:S h e b s t e r
Name: Cyra
Height:11.1hh
Personality: Cyra is a busy-body. She always has to be doing something. She has a habit of adding task, after task, after task, but doesn’t even realize it. Then she will rush around to try and get it completed. Most of the time it’s things that are helping others. Sometimes she forgets to even take a break and eat or drink! Cyra doesn’t mind though she enjoys seeing other equids happy as well as being reliable. She is an extremely gentle and kind soul who sees the best in everything.
What helps her remember things or stay on task?
Cyra will send little signals to keep on track. She does this by using pieces of grass, bark, sticks, even random human items. Depending on what she uses it triggers a certain thought in her brain that she associates to it. Sometimes if it’s some place she needs to go. She will place them into either an arrow for direction or a shape of the location.

[werepickle]

Username: werepickle
Name: Lyana
Height: 14hh
Personality:
Lyana is to be known notoriously clumsy. Each day was an adventure in missteps; tripping over her own hooves, stumbling into fences, or losing track of her belongings within moments. Despite her frequent tumbles, Lyana possessed an open heart and an even more open mind. She embraced everyone she met with warmth and acceptance. However, this penchant for understanding others sometimes led her into trouble. Her insatiable curiosity about the latest gossip often found her poking around where she shouldn’t and often pushed her to dig for more than what was comfortable; she wanted to understand every nuance of their lives.

What helps her remember things or stay on task?
Lyana is a bit of a scatterbrain when it comes day to day tasks and with her penchant for misplacing items, completing tasks is as much of a struggle. One day her friend handed her a stack of colorful sticky notes and Lyana’s eyes lit up with joy. Lyana found joy in this new system and each morning began with a delightful ritual; she would write down the smallest tasks first. With each completed task, she peeled off the sticky note and tossed it into a nearby basket.

Nowadays every little tasks gets written on sticky notes and her stable has turned into a rainbow confetti of reminders about the simplest tasks. She always starts with the smallest tasks, taking the occasional break to prevent herself from burning out before she tackles the next set of task waiting ahead.

[|Shyba|]

Username: |Shyba|
Name: Daze
Height: 11 hh
Personality:

Daze is often more irritable than she'd like to be in her day to day life. The exhaustion of trying to remember things like promises and responsibilities and frequently falling flat is a very frustrating way of life that eventually weighs on a person. Almost alienating in some cases when she feels like she's let others down. She tries not to let herself put that irritation on others so over time, she's become more withdrawn and self-critical while finding a place within herself to be forgiving and empathetic with others. Even apologetic when accidentally putting others in positions she struggles with.

However, where her memory frequently fails her, her imagination is her strength. Always finding creative ways to jog her memory and stimulate her mind because well, she's determined to push through the fog and not let it define her. Perhaps she should work on being a little more forgiving and apologetic with herself, and she knows that too, but doing that and actually feeling it is a difference that comes with time and support.

What helps her remember things or stay on task?

Building a habit is some of the best, or, most common advice that Daze tries, but doing that exactly is easier said than done because well.. you have to remember it enough times to build that habit. Visual stimulation has always been something of Daze's strong suit, So the solution? Post it notes, everywhere. Writing little notes to herself the moment she thinks of it and putting it somewhere she will see it in her daily life, and then letting herself forget about it instead of trying to constantly remember herself into mental exhaustion. It doesn't even have to be a post it note, sometimes even writing it on herself, putting a sticker somewhere, or using a dry erase marker on the walls. Something just goofy enough to make her think "Why is this here?" and then bam, she remembers why. It may not always be on time, but she'll find it and remember it, and it gets a little easier every time.