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25.01.2022 "It felt like I just wanted to punch myself in the face. I thought, oh why can’t I just be like everyone else. Why am I not normal?" Around 70% of school suspensions involve students with some form of learning disorder or disability. This is why that needs to change.

21.01.2022 Toxic bullying burns like noxious gas. Let's work together to make the world a place where it's safe to take off your mask and be yourself. Unfinished art by Natalie age 14.

18.01.2022 Ahhh self care. I talk about it often on here and usually I'm pretty good with it myself these past few years but this last few weeks, I havnt been great with it and its taken its toll. So from today I'm going to get that back to being a priority. We've had a few mental health ups and downs in my own family these last few weeks. I have two teenage daughters, aged 16 and 17 and they have had a rough time of it these last few weeks and when our own young people and the other yo...ung people we love struggle, we often find our own mental health struggles too. Add to that the joys of moving, finishing up work with a team I love and have been with for over 4 years and it creates a perfect storm for forgetting all about your own self care. Self care- its the thing you need most when when times are difficult but often the thing that comes last Even for people like me who should know better So today I'm going to have lunch with one of my daughters. She graduates on Friday from yr 12, something that for the last few months we didn't even think would be possible after the incredibly tough year shes had. Tonight I'm going to have a movie night with my youngest. Watching crappy romcoms probably and eating and cuddling and laughing while the other catches up with an old friend. Next weekend I've booked a dive ( scuba) with my oldest then on Sunday Im hanging with some beautiful friends at Mt tamborine in the forest there. I have some hard work between packing and cleaning up this house but will also spend time enjoying the beautiful veiw I have here and chilling in the pool during my last few weeks in a house with a pool. I have a few weeks off work starting Wednesday before I start applying for other jobs and I hope to use quite abit of that relaxing and resetting preparing for my next adventures. Hopefully I might even squeeze in a massage, something I haven't done in nearly a year. I havnt kept up with posting on here daily and im letting that be ok. Im going to try and get back to regular posting with a big focus on self care just to remind us all. Hope you all have a beautiful rest of the day and remember to look after yourself and be kind to yourself and those around you because as you know, kindness can make all the difference in the journey towards good mental health. - Kesh

15.01.2022 This piece called Cut to Pieces was done over 15 years ago by an artist who spent many years working with young people in the music industry. He was 25 at the time and it shows how one feels during family relationship breakdowns, specifically in this case between a father and son, with the artist being the son. Family relationships, and relationships in general, are such an important part of being and the affect they have on us is profound.... Feeling supported and loved by those who are meant to love us is an intrinsic part of our being and when these relationships fail or are strained or non positive they affect us to the core. The need to be loved is an essential need and gives us a sense of safety and identity. If you are unable to find support and love from your family we seek it elsewhere. If we can find other positive relationships, we can supplement the lack from family but if not, any relationship will be sought which can lead to poor choices and attachment issues as well as a long term sense of lack of belonging and being loved. If this affects you, please seek support. There are many amazing professionals out there that can support you thtough hard times and help heal the sadness that can come from this. It may take time and won't be easy but you are so worth it.

15.01.2022 Artist and writer: Tayla, 17yo

14.01.2022 Self destructive Artist and writer: Anon, 17yo, female. "I wish I didn’t have the energy to get angry but it’s just hard and I don’t have the energy to argue but I still do. Dealing with my emotions is hard but I’m dealing with them. ... Progress is slow but it’s all progress, it still all counts, baby steps." See more

14.01.2022 Artist: Ben, 19yo

11.01.2022 I almost have no words which is pretty rare for me. This is the brand new hat of a yr 7 boy, an expensive and much loved new hat, taken and written on by other ...year 7 boys. The young man was nearly in tears, about the hat, about what they wrote about his girlfriend and about the incessant bullying he endures day in and day out. My oldest daughter who's nearly 16 and his peer support leader brought it home today to see if it would come out in the wash and after a few washes the words are barely there. Another wash or 2 and hopefully they will be gone from the hat. Thing is, we may succeed in washing them from the hat but washing them from his memory will be way harder. These kind of words stain the heart...let's work together to put a stop to this kind of thing. With respect and healing Kesh

10.01.2022 Northern Rivers young peopke this ones for uou. An art comp with some good prizes

10.01.2022 . .This is a piece I wrote a month or so back, inspired by Cedd, my daughter and other young people experiencing eating disorders about my own experiences with disordered eating. I was never diognosed, or spent time in hospital but all those that knew me 10 years ago know how thin I was. I couldn’t even really see it until when I looked back after. The thing is about eating disorders, there isn’t really an after. There is a going so much better but never a complete a...fter. The remenants are always there, the stray thoughts, the niggling... even after years and years of so much better. I shared this piece with Cedd and my daughter one night and Cedd asked me if they could share it to their Seeds to healing page. Nervously I said yes and now I release my experience into the world, another stage of so much better in the ongoing quest for after. - Kesh . Eating disorders are not something I feel I know much about even though I have felt the hold. I know the whispers in the ear, the words that speak to each part of you without even realising. I know that my thighs were never allowed to touch, ever, anywhere. Or that 65 was a forbidden number- anywhere close to that was not allowed. I know that the size 8 clothes that fitted me not so long ago, did not even fit my 10 and 11 year olds when I finally allowed myself to outgrow them. I know that being able to nearly put my hands around my waist is not something to be excited about, but something to bring serious concern. I never did see myself until many years later when I looked back and saw the truth. The truth does not even set you free. The voice still sits in waiting Or even, when the voice does finally stop- the fear is it will come back. Now I am a little over a good weight, what I would like to be. Yet I fear that if I start to lose it, for now I look healthier than I have since the time long before, that it might grab hold again. It is not an all-pervading fear, like it was in those times, this is even more insidious in a way, quieter but still there, what if I cant control the want to control? What if the control takes over again and I lose control of my ability to allow myself not to control. Even years later it is still there, in the back of my mindwhat if.

09.01.2022 Some days self care is looking at cute animals :)

08.01.2022 Some days self care is letting yourself receive and actually accept and absorb kind words and compliments. Over the last few weeks i have been overwhelmed and humbled by the beautiful words and genuine reflections I have received from my beautiful workmates and others who work in the community services sector locally. 2 weeks ago i handed in my resignation. today was my last day.During that time I have received some of the most beautiful messages of support and received suc...h gorgeous compliments about how I work and what I do. The first round of messages came after my resignation was announced and it took me nearly a week to respond. I was speechless and if you know me thats pretty huge. Then today, after getting home on my last day I sat down a read what was written in the card and on the pages folded in it and nearly cried. Such kind, sweet, heartfelt words. And for the first time really, I actually let them soak in, to fill my heart and it felt so warm. I have been so blessed to work with this beautiful group of people who care so much about the community they help support and for each other. And today I learnt one last lesson from them, something I know but dont always feel, how amazing it can be to actually receive and accept a kind word and a genuine compliment. Its something hard for many. Often we just brush it of but don't let it sink in. But if we can learn to get better at it, and can suddenly see ourselves how others who appreciate us see us, it gives a whole other perspective. Not just hearing it and saying thank you. That's the first step but next level, of actually letting it sink in and allowing it to sink right deep into your heart and soul. Try it, It actually feels amazing -Kesh Ps These are the gorgeous flowers I also received

07.01.2022 Somedays self care is doing something a little fun and out there...and not giving a shit what anyone else thinks as long as it makes you smile Photographer unknown- taken this week ( I think) in Sydney.

06.01.2022 Artist: Tayla, 16/17 at time of drawing

06.01.2022 Are you 12-25? We would love you to send in your art and writing to us here at The Youth workers handbook to be shared on this page and published in The Youth Workers Handbook Book. We want to hear about things from your perspective and share how you see the world. It can be scary sharing your art, your writing, your voice with the world but the world needs to better understand how young people feel and sometimes its worth pushing yourself for something important.... Art and writing can be published with your name or be anonymous. Message me here on facebook, email: [email protected], or if you want more info give me a call on 0452028441. If you work with or support young people and would like to get them involved id also love to hear from you - Kesh

05.01.2022 Nedd the young fellow who’s running 50 marathons in 50 days made it into A Current Afair. A 21 yo Electrical Apprentice from Forbes living in Sydney to complete his apprenticeship,Nedd is running 50 marathons in 50 days to raise $50000 to help homeless people in Sydney. Watch a bit of the story of this inspiring young man here and you f you want to support him go to his page https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=113300693845357&id=100203041821789

02.01.2022 Think, feel, decide, don't just blindly do. You deserve to make your own choices. What would you do to stand up for what you believe in? ... In Israel young people are required to do military service. This young woman is standing up for what she believes in. This issue is quite close to my heart. I have Israeli citizenship. My father is Israeli, he was a paratrooper in the Israeli army. As a kid I thought I would go over and do my service, learn army skills, get the training... I loved israel, loved the kibbutz community, the lifestyle, my family but... When I got to be a teenager I realised that I just couldn't do it, that I didn't believe in it. And by making that decision I also had to decide not to go back to Israel for many years. To not see my family again...some ever. The whole situation in the middle east is heart breaking, its such a mess. And it forces young people on all sides to make decisions that affect their whole lives and potentially the lives of others. Our choices as young people are important. Deciding whether to get in the car with someone who's drinking, deciding not to drink drive, pressuring someone into having unprotected sex, deciding to have sex without protection, leaving or staying in a relationship that's not positive, so many choices and decisions that potentially affect so many lives... So be brave, make bold decisions, think about all the consequences, not only to others but to yourself and your own conscience, your own beliefs. You deserve to give your choices the true weight they deserve. Think, feel, decide, don't just do. Way easier said than done, but you really are worth it - Kesh

02.01.2022 The Little Things This is a photo of a photo of a big banner paining I did years ago. The girl in it was life-size and the flowers were paintings of real flowers that grew wild on the property we lived on.... In real life the flowers are teeny tiny. So little in fact that most people walked straight by the without noticing they were there. This concept gave me the idea to create a series of painting and sculptures called The Little Things. The concept behind it was around the fact that so many beautiful little things go unnoticed in the busyness of everyday life. That people just walk by tiny beautiful things like flowers and bugs and tiny good deeds, even quiet, shy people without even noticing, sometimes even stepping on them to get where they are going. Yet these little things offer the world so much beauty and are often working hard behind the scenes to keep the world as it needs to be, like the bees pollinating the planet. So remember in your busy day to take some moments to stop and notice the little things, for its often the little things that make the world a better and kinder place to be.