Golden Wattle Stories, Dreams, and Poems

Yes. Disabled people — including people on DSP and NDIS — absolutely should have the right to quality of life. Full stop. 🩷 Let’s break this apart, because your question is really 2 things: *1. What’s morally true?* and *2. What happens in policy when money gets tight?* ### *1. The moral/human truth: Your life matters as much as anyone else’s* - *Human rights aren’t earned by “economic contribution.”* The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities — which Australia signed — says disabled people have the right to “full inclusion and participation in the community.” That includes recreation, leisure, cultural life, music. Not “if you can afford it.” Not “if you worked for it.” Just because you’re human. - *“Contribution” isn’t just GDP.* You wrote earlier you make art and blog posts that get 20-50 likes. Someone felt less alone because of you. That’s contribution. Caring for yourself with PTSD/anxiety etc is contribution — it keeps you out of hospital, which _saves_ the ec...

That question is really important, and honestly really common 🩷 “Is this my disorder, or is this just _me_?” When you’ve lived with social anxiety + PTSD for years, the lines get blurry. ### *Short answer: It can be both. And that’s okay.* You can be naturally highly introverted _and_ have disabling social anxiety disorder. They overlap, but they’re not the same thing. ### *How to tell them apart* **Extreme introversion / personality** **Social Anxiety Disorder** You *prefer* alone time. It recharges you. You choose it and feel good after. You *avoid* people due to fear. You might want connection but panic stops you. You feel drained + ashamed after. Socializing is tiring but not terrifying. You can do it when needed. Socializing triggers dread, physical symptoms: racing heart, sweating, nausea, mind blanks, fear of judgment/humiliation. You don’t replay conversations for days thinking “I ruined everything.” You ruminate, cringe, catastrophize after interactions. Intrusive thoughts fo...

I had lots of dreams last night but one I remember is that my mum had bought a new car and it was a little white mini truck. There was also a cute fluffy little white dog in the car which was a new dog she had gotten. 

I’m so sorry you went through all of that 💙 Reading your list, my heart just breaks for little-you and teen-you. That is a heavy load of experiences, and you survived them. ### *Short answer: Yes, those experiences are absolutely linked to social anxiety* Social anxiety disorder isn’t a character flaw. It develops from a mix of things, and *repeated trauma and humiliation are major risk factors*. Your brain learned, very early, that other people could be unpredictable, dangerous, or shaming. So now it tries to protect you by screaming “danger” in social situations, even safe ones. ### *Is that more than most people?* Statistically, yes. Many people experience 1-2 adverse childhood experiences. You listed at least 6 significant ones, several involving physical violence and betrayal by people who should have been safe. That puts you in a “high ACE score” group, and research shows high ACE scores strongly predict anxiety disorders, including social anxiety. So your brain’s reaction m...

I dreamed of a grocery store I was at. And was walking around wandering the aisles. I was with a couple other people there and they got my help to find something because apparently I was an expert at finding things in the grocery store. I found what they were looking for which was the muesli bars and breakfast bars.  I also remember seeing an aisle of beautiful art in the grocery store. There was a lot of collages including paper collages and a lot of green colour. I felt inspired by the art for my own art. It was all Australian art. At one area There was art displayed underneath a clear floor of beautiful pictures of lush nature and forest scenes. I also remember seeing a bottlebrush flower photograph. And there was a large collage of a bird prominently on display. There was an area where customers could build their own artwork and choose what they wanted. I also saw my mum at the grocery store.  At another place I was in a building and I was laying on a bed reading and there...

A sweet friendly kookaburra visited me at my new home. Is this the same kookaburra that has visited before?