Time out.

Clever Bird is well aware that Creative Clara's blogs are becoming more intermittent, for which she apologises - especially to those of you baggees who worry when she is silent. Baggy is okay, but truthfully, she is struggling. The depression doesn't seem to be an issue, but her anxiety is being a real nuisance and is once again preventing her from doing the things that she should be doing. This is in large part down to stress, but she's working on that. And part of that is not to put so much pressure on herself. Silly as it sounds, at the moment, writing a blog, or at least feeling that Clara has to write a blog, is too much for Hormonal Hannah. Additionally, she set up the Facebook group, The Baggees Forum, for baggees who don't know Baggy personally. In the end, the baggees in it are all her Facebook friends, so she effectively has two FB pages to keep up to date - more pressure. So, Clever Bird is going to give Hormonal Hannah a break! She will be taking a time-out from the blog and social media. But worry not baggees, Baggy will be back. In the meantime, any baggee can join the FB Group, and can add things to it, so please feel free.

Anxiety is a most peculiar affliction, but unfortunately it is very real to the sufferer. Yet merely typing that is putting Hannah into an anxious panic, because in the scheme of things it's not that bad. Baggy has more than one friend who is currently fighting a life-threatening illness. She knows of others with both anxiety and depression much worse than her own. She has both acquaintances and relatives who have recently lost a parent or a partner and are grieving. So to be wittering on about not wanting to get out of bed, or leave the house, or walk the pooch, or groom the horses, or whatever seems selfish in the extreme. Yet bottling it up is a disaster!

Baggy has been bottling things up for a few weeks, and today it resulted in a Niagra Falls of tears, when Hannah finally opened up to number one furry on the phone. Freda Fretter hadn't been telling Calum how Hannah was feeling, because she didn't want to worry him. Big mistake. And that's the point Clever Bird supposes. Everyone's feelings are real. And yes of course, they're all relative. Baggy knows how extremely fortunate she is, and is well aware that many people would love to have 'only her problems', but that doesn't make those feelings any less valid.

So to everyone who's struggling in any way, Baggy will attempt to waft some love and hugs through the ether to you and hope that you can find a way through..............

Note to readers: For the avoidance of any doubt, every character in this blog is Baggy! No Baggy was harmed in its writing, although some of them get pretty confused!

Depression: Manageable.
Anxiety: Ghastly.
Tears: Niagra Falls.
Smiles: Nowhere near enough.