I took this at Deer River, which goes to show that even the most gorgeous places can be home to subtle as well. Read about Deer River here on on my blog.

Be kind to people, spread love, bring smiles. You never know what people are dealing with behind their masks. ♥

too much stress right now!!

I texture from Pixabay

Peace

Swithland Reservoir, Leicestershire

Flickr: www.flickriver.com/photos/iainmerchant/

Art & Photography: www.theartoflife.gallery

#artist #interiordesign #photography #art #mentalhealth

Photo Sponsored by a good friend of mine, with an important message

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If you like this shirt, you can buy it on a Shirt, Hoodie, Hats and even more in RL!

Check it out, here:

Message from the designer:

"We fight our demons on the battlefield of our mind, as well as our heart. We endure pain and we grow tired. On days you feel like the war's been too long, and the pain is too much, I hope you stay."

Moonlit Promises

Experience the night...

Flickr: www.flickriver.com/photos/iainmerchant/

Art & Photography: www.theartoflife.gallery

#artist #interiordesign #photography #art #mentalhealth

Geometry and Rain

Silver skies

Flickr: www.flickriver.com/photos/iainmerchant/

Art & Photography: www.theartoflife.gallery

#artist #interiordesign #photography #art #mentalhealth

Back Alley

Old Leicester Lanes

Flickr: www.flickriver.com/photos/iainmerchant/

Art & Photography: www.theartoflife.gallery

#TheArtofLife #IainMerchant #Photography #DigitalArt #mentalhealth #Creative #ArtSale

Weather Forecast

You'll need a coat!

Flickr: www.flickriver.com/photos/iainmerchant/

Art & Photography: www.theartoflife.gallery

#artist #interiordesign #photography #art #mentalhealth

Chit Chat

Chewing the daily fat...

Flickr: www.flickriver.com/photos/iainmerchant/

Art & Photography: www.theartoflife.gallery

#artist #interiordesign #photography #art #mentalhealth

As You Were...

A glimpse back in time at Leicester City

Flickr: www.flickriver.com/photos/iainmerchant/

Art & Photography: www.theartoflife.gallery

#artist #interiordesign #photography #art #mentalhealth

Dark Days

Waiting for spring

Flickr: www.flickriver.com/photos/iainmerchant/

Art & Photography: www.theartoflife.gallery

#artist #interiordesign #photography #art #mentalhealth

“To change, you must face the dragon of your appetites with another dragon: the life-energy of the soul.”

— Rumi

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Copyrighted © Wendy Dobing All Rights Reserved

Do not download without my permission.

"¡Qué poco ruido hacen los verdaderos milagros! Qué simples son los acontecimientos esenciales" - Antoine de Saint Exupéry

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📷 Taken in Sunny´s Photo Studio with "Innocent games" pose:

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sunny%20Photo%20Studio/128...

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Forks/128/121/30

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maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Forks/128/121/30

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Processed with MOLDIV

79/365/2023, 4462 days in a row

I took this photo yesterday but did not get around to doing any processing. In 2025 I took close to 90,000 photos, most I have ever taken, the vast majority of them were with my new camera the Nikon Z8, which I am very pleased with. I posted just over 1600 photos on my Flickr page. I do not remember what year I started photography but it started mostly with flowers and gardens which I was into at the time. About 13/14 years ago I started Bird and Nature photography and I have taken over 500,000 images, so much of that was garbage but there have been some good ones and some even I think are great. My time with a camera in hand has been a mental health thing, I am one of those people who gets overwhelmed by the world and photography takes me away from the anxiety that lives in my brain and distracts me in a most positive way. We all need to practice some positive mental health activities and for me this is it.

Walking and talking - a good way to stay healthy and happy!

Waterways

Castle Gardens, Leicester

Flickr: www.flickriver.com/photos/iainmerchant/

Art & Photography: www.theartoflife.gallery

#artist #interiordesign #photography #art #mentalhealth

Is Mental Health Awareness Month

It happens.

I wrote about 4 mindsets that lead to burnout and how to fix them: fourbrickstall.substack.com/p/four-reasons-youre-burning-out

Casper, Wyoming

Happy Wall Wednesday!

Sculpture in The Path of life community garden, highlighting the effects of mental health problems

Natural Colours

You've just gotta love it...

Flickr: www.flickriver.com/photos/iainmerchant/

Art & Photography: www.theartoflife.gallery

#artist #interiordesign #photography #art #mentalhealth

NYS Mental Health Police

Models: Rosie Roo and Zoe Parker

Unless one has actually been there, clinical depression and anxiety etc is very hard for a non sufferer to REALLY understand. Why doesn't the sufferer get a grip and just snap out of it?

robertmgoldstein.com/

Self-portrait for Kathimerini about mental health

Seen at South Street Seaport in Lower Manhattan. From their website: "You Are Not Alone Murals is a community-based art project that offers a message of hope, and aims to spark dialogue around mental health. For the third year in a row, the project, which features murals from local artists, has returned to the Seaport in honor of May being Mental Health Awareness Month." The artists of this piece are Jason Naylor and Jessie Salinas.

We need light in order to create darkness

It takes the power of light to make darkness happen

Without light, there can be no darkness

When we dive into our mind

What exactly can we see

Is there hope or inspiration

Is there an emotional abdication

What is the cause of my misery

Can the answers be found checking my history

What is the path that I must choose

I can’t decide for I may lose

My reality has altered

My mental state has faltered

If only I was able to cry

I can’t you see cos I’m a guy

I am the rock you rely on me

I am the one who must simply be

Supporting others to hell with me

And yes you know that’s where I’ll be

Why can’t you see this pain I carry

This awful burden is my adversary

You think this is just arbitrary

In a wooden box it’s me you’ll carry

Models: Linda and Pernilla Location: Tønsberg

Model Mark Jarvis

My emotional avatar right there.

For many years I’ve been struggling with my former time at school. The coercion, peer pressure, loneliness, the tribal culture and seeming chaos of random acts of cruelty and humiliation perpetrated by my peers deeply affected me. Add to that the bullying that was directed upon anyone observed to be either too smart or too dumb. So I ran silent and deep, tried to become invisible, did the minimum effort to receive a pass in my assignments, in constant fear of being cast out, rejected and mocked. After finishing school I felt cheated; I’d lost my chance at a career or even becoming who I might’ve been. I felt like a shadow. I felt like a failure. The bullies had won. I felt bitter and angry; I would resort to road rage to vent my aggression. In my mind I would become obsessed with questions like “Why” and “If only-“, I was trapped in my own past.

Through much counselling, reading and introspection, I had an epiphany recently. I realised that I’d survived. It sounds a so simple and a little quaint but I suspect that I had to be in the right place in order to realise the power of that statement. I was traumatised by school but I survived. Unfortunately many kids don’t. But I did, here I am. Suddenly the questions in my mind turned to “Now what?” and “What happens today?” Saying to myself that I survived something in the past gave me not only strength but focused me back on the present, the here and now. This moment here becomes important rather than trying to fix or resolve or find meaning in the past. That's a hugely powerful feeling for me and I’m proud of myself for surviving something I found so traumatic.

I don't know why it took me so long to get here but that's in the past now too. I don't know if this helps anyone reading it but if there's even the remotest, slightest possibility that it might, then it's worth sharing. Sharing our vulnerabilities makes us stronger, I think.