The Drama Triangle

Some time ago, a dear friend introduced to me the Drama Triangle, which has since saved me a lot of grief. Once I recognized such a construct operating in a relationship important to me, I was able to step back and see it with much less heartache.

The idea of the Drama Triangle is that in relationships we may be inclined to take the roles of victims, persecutors, and rescuers, none of which are healthy. When a particular relationship I was in was at its most heated, I drew a triangle with the word victim written at one point, persecutor at a second, and rescuer at the third point of the triangle, with the warning to "stay out of the triangle" written alongside. I posted it on my refrigerator as a constant reminder. It helped.

Wickidedia has a good explanation here. If you have not known of the concept before, maybe it will be a help to you to understand about the Drama Triangle, too. I'd love to hear your stories. Please share if you feel so inclined.

A thank you to Heather for her inspired teaching and to bram_app for sharing the above photo on flickr.

NAMI Memebers Talk About Mental Illnesses

NAMI has posted a collection of videos of members speaking about their experiences with mental illnesses. I found them quite riveting; encouraging, too. Here is the link.

Those Who Support

How blessed we are that the world has men such as these.


I am so very thankful for my husband, who is in so many ways like Bill.

Good Rain

I have long been aware of the scripture which teaches us that our "Father which is in Heaven . . . maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."--Matthew 5:45

For a long time, I read this scripture thinking that his sun represented good things and rain represented bad. Where I live sunlight is a precious commodity, while a nearly-constant threat of rain keeps things rather gloomy.

I have grown to realize that both sun and rain are, of course, blessings.

Since I know that it is my Father who is making the sun to rise on me, and is also sending the rain, I think I would be wise to welcome both, whether I bake or shiver, am drenched or parched.

There is something to be said for basking a bit in sunshine.

There is something to be said, too, for keeping one's umbrella turned bowl-side up.

A thank you to ovizo0n for sharing this photo on flickr.

Joey Pantoliano Speaks Out Against Stigma

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Joe Pantoliano is the founder and president of "No Kidding, Me Too!"  For more information on the work being done there and a link to a trailer for an upcoming documentary, visit the website home page at NKM2.org.

I like to visit there and read and watch the videos to help me remember that I am part of a community, that there are others who understand what I feel and experience.

Nice Axe

Nice axe, originally uploaded by Lonnon Foster.

We are unemployed.

Driving on Overload

Here is a picture of how I'm feeling lately. Thank you for asking.

Manic again.   Lots going on inside this brain.

A thank you to maxw for sharing this photo in Creative Commons on Flickr.com.

The Need for a Predictable Life

A thank you to _aeb for sharing her drawing in Creative Commons on  flickr.

From Matters of the Mind*:

     "Some suggestions for helping others cope with bipolar illness include the following:

          "Create a low-stress, comfortable environment.  Keep sensory stimulation, such as noise, at a low level.  Keep life predictable." 

I guess it is no wonder that I am feeling depressed again, with a lay-off notice looming over our heads, scheduled to show up this Friday.  Kind people are helping in every way possible to keep it from happening.  I feel blessed so much, too, for savings in the bank, for food in the pantry, for the help of friends and of heaven.  

But I do think that I will be healthier when life is more predictable once more.

*Matters of the Mind:  Latter-day Saint Helps for Mental Health, Edited by Marleen S. Williams, Ph.D., W. Dean Belnap, M.D., John P. Liningstone, Ed.D., Deseret Book, Salt lake City, Utah, 2008, page 164.

"Everybody Deserves a Roof"

A thank you to franco folini for sharing this photograph on flickr.

As I wrote about on this blog before, I feel a great affinity with the homeless among us. I particularly empathize with a need to have more privacy than what is afforded by a homeless shelter. I was heartened, therefore, to find this website about the EDAR (Everybody Deserves a Roof) project. You may want to go visit the site and see and read more there. Here is bit of history.

"Peter Samuelson began counting the homeless people on his bicycle route from Westwood, Los Angeles to the beach in Santa Monica and return. There were 62 homeless people on those streets, including many women and several children. Peter interviewed all 62 of them and then conceptualized a mobile single-person device that would facilitate recycling (a principal source of income for many who are homeless) by day and at night convert into a dry, safe tent-like enclosure for sleeping, raised off the concrete, with privacy and storage space.

"Peter sponsored an EDAR design competition at the Pasadena Art Center College of Design. As a result, Peter met designers Eric Lindeman and Jason Zasa, who won the prize, and they have been working pro bono ever since. Wire design and fabrication have been provided free of charge by John Ondrasic and Mike Orozco of Precision Wire Inc."

(Read more here.)