#openpath

[em-dash-press]

Why Creative Writing Might Make You Anxious (Even If You Love It)

When I sit down to write, sometimes I get so anxious that my stomach gets queasy. It can happen even when I’m wondering if I’ll have time to write today.

Anxiety affects even the best writers, so let’s talk about why your favorite hobby might also put you on edge.

Your Stories Involve Topics You Care About

Great stories always have centralized themes. Your theme drives your plot, informs your character’s choices, and draws readers in.

They’re essential, but they can also be deeply meaningful. You might feel the weight of being a voice on the topic, even if you’re talking about it through a goofy or unrealistic story.

Solution: Remember that you’re continuing a conversation, not presenting yourself as the all-knowing leader on any given theme. Give your perspective and thoughts on the theme through your work. Your unique take is why your readers will pick up your work.

Your Work Relates to Your Past or Present

Inspiration comes from anywhere. You might get an idea while walking the dog, but you can also think of stories when reflecting on your past or present.

Sometimes that means opening up parts of our history that wounded us. They might still feel like pressing on a bruise, even if you’re only writing a story for yourself.

Solution: Be gentle with yourself if you’re writing about a deeply personal topic, event, subject, or period in your life. Recognize that your anxiety is likely your brain trying to protect you, not sabotage you. If you can’t let it wash over you and continue your writing, consider starting therapy before writing your short story or novel. OpenPath is a great affordable option, along with sliding-scale therapists in your town. You might need to process that sensitive subject before you can write about it.

Your Story Feels Complicated

Longer stories can be overwhelming, even if they’re stories we desperately want to finish. They might involve more plotlines than you’re used to handling or a bigger cast of characters you need to develop.

We grow as writers by taking on new creative challenges. A few things I want to remind you if you feel like this is the source of your creative writing anxiety:

There’s no rush to finish a story. Ever.

Give yourself extra time when you’re trying something new. You wouldn’t expect a new runner to finish a marathon in 2 hours.

Take breaks to reset your energy, especially when you feel frustrated or anxious.

It’s okay to not finish a story.

Read that one again.

It really is okay to not finish a story.

You might come back to it in a year or two or three when your plot management or character development skills are better. It’s never a mark of failure to leave a draft in a to-be-finished folder.

Solution: Read through the bullet points above. Be gentle with yourself. Practice in shorter story forms, even with the same characters. You always have the judgment-free choice to finish a story or delete it entirely.

You Don’t Have a Plot Outline

Free writing is great. It’s a completely valid way to write short stories and novels. Some people excel at it. Others need an outline.

You might feel anxious about your current writing sessions because you don’t know where your story is going or how it will end. It’s a normal thing to experience and doesn’t make you any less of a writer—even if creating a plot outline changes your writing method temporarily.

Solution: Acknowledge that it’s okay to change your writing process sometimes. Every story needs a different support structure. Write your story idea in a single sentence, then expand on it in a paragraph. You can transform that into a bullet-point list or outline that makes writing the story more manageable.

You Haven’t Been Writing For a While

Some writers dream of having the time to write every day. Others like to write, but wouldn’t want to spend hours every day with their latest draft.

No matter what you prefer, sometimes returning to the craft of writing can spark anxiety if it’s been a while since your last creative venture. Whether it’s motivated by guilt, embarrassment, or shame, you’re not alone. It’s a typical form of creative anxiety and it’s something you can absolutely handle.

Solution: Give yourself some slack. Writing routines always change. Sometimes life draws us away from our creative writing for months or years at a time. You’re still a writer. Whatever your story becomes will be valid.

You Have a Loud Inner Critic

We’ve all been there. You’re trying to write but your inner critic is holding you back. You might want to jump into editing so you only continue with a perfect draft. Maybe you’re constantly polishing your world-building or character details.

The pressure naturally translates into anxiety. It’s okay to step away from your work if this anxiety makes you uncomfortable. You can always return when your inner critic is distracted or you feel more naturally confident.

Solution: Ask that inner critic to take a backseat. They’ll give you a powerful advantage when you move from the writing phase into the editing phases. Linework and structural editing can always happen later. But to reach that point, you need a draft. Preferably, your worst draft possible. Go wild with your writing—that’s what a first draft is for.

-----

It’s okay to love creative writing and also feel anxious about it. I think the only time anxiety didn’t affect my writing was when I was a kid and had never received criticism, constructive or otherwise.

Be gentle with yourself as you reflect on your anxiety triggers and potential solutions. You’re in the for the long run. Sustainable help will be your best source of help.

#writeblr #writing encouragement #writing advice #writing tips #writers of tumblr #writing anxiety #creative writing

[uncloseted]

Hi, how can I start therapy? Without “betterhelp”.

Without knowing more about your situation (where you live, if you have private insurance, what you're going to therapy for, what you can afford to pay, etc), it's a little hard to guess what might work for you, but I'll give some general advice.

Finding a Therapist in the US

If you're in the US, the first thing that I would do is check with your insurance. Typically, insurance companies will have a list of therapists that are in-network for them, meaning that they insurance company will cover most of the cost of treatment.

Once you find a few options, I would check on PsychologyToday to see if they have profiles. There, you can see what their qualifications are, what kind of therapy they practice, what their approach to therapy is, and generally just get a sense of if you like them or not. If you find a few that you think might be a good fit, send them an email or call them to request a consultation. This is usually a free, 15 minute phone session where you can get a feel for the therapist, discuss what you want to work on in therapy, and see if the therapist is a good fit for you.

If your insurance doesn't cover any therapists that are currently accepting new clients, you can pay out of pocket. Sometimes, your insurance will reimburse you for some of those costs via a "Superbill" that you can request from your therapist. The process of finding a therapist that you pay for out-of-pocket is pretty similar- I would start with the PsychologyToday website and see if you can find a few people you like.

If that's too expensive, there are a few things you can try. Many therapists will offer sliding-scale pricing based on how much money their clients make, so you can look for therapists who specifically advertise that. If you have an annual household income below $100,000, you can try a reduced-fee network of therapists such as OpenPath. With OpenPath, sessions are between $30 and $60 each. You can also try reaching out to an organization affiliated with Mental Health America that can help you find the support you need.

You could also try a training clinic, where students preparing to become therapists practice under the supervision of a licensed therapist. These are usually near a college or university, and are more affordable than traditional therapy options.

Lastly, you can attend support groups. There are support groups online as well as in-person, and many of them are free. These can be really helpful in making you feel like you're not alone in your struggles.

Finally, there are crisis lines and "warm lines". These are phone numbers you can call if you just need to talk. They're free and confidential, and are generally staffed by trained peers (not therapists). Many are available 24/7.

Finding a Therapist in the UK

The UK is a little more straightforward when it comes to finding a therapist. Your GP can refer you to a therapist in your area, or you can self-refer. You can check IAPT to find therapists that you can refer yourself to without going through your GP.

If the NHS waiting list in your area is too long, you can try community and charity sector organisations that offer free or low-cost talking therapies. Your local Mind, local Rethink Mental Illness, or local Turning Point branch may be able to offer you talking therapies, and Mental Health Matters (MHM) offers a telephone counselling service and talking therapies in some areas. There's more information on those organizations here.

If you're open to paying out of pocket for therapy, there are private options available to you. You can find a therapist using the following resources:

the Counselling Directory – for all kinds of counsellors and therapists

the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) – for all kinds of counsellors and therapists

the British Association for Behavioural & Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) – for cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) practitioners

the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) – for psychotherapists

the British Psychological Society (BPS) – for local therapists

Pink therapy – for therapists with LGBTQ+ experience.

Getting therapy elsewhere

If you're in Australia, there are resources on accessing free or low cost therapy here and here. If you're in Canada, check here, here, and here. If you're in Mexico, check here and here.

Wrapping Up

A few last thoughts. Finding the right therapist for you can be a process, so don't get discouraged if you meet with a few that you don't really like that much. It's normal to schedule a few different consultations before you find a therapist you like and that you feel like you can trust. It's also totally normal to be intimidated by therapy or to feel a little nervous. Just remember that nothing you can say or do will shock your therapist, and that they're here to support you through your journey. They should go at a pace that feels comfortable to you and make you feel safe throughout the time that you're in therapy. If they're doing or saying something that makes you feel uncomfortable, it's okay to push back on them.

[openpathsblog]

Best linux training institute in Delhi NCR

OPENPATH DELHI provides inclusive Linux training in Delhi. The comprehensive practical training provided by Linux Training Institute in Delhi is equipped with live projects and simulations. Such a comprehensive Linux curriculum has helped our students secure jobs in various MNCs. The instructors at OpenPath Delhi are subject matter expert corporate professionals who provide intensive Linux courses in Delhi. There are wide job opportunities in the industry for the participants who complete the Linux certification.

Read more information: https://www.openpath.in/courses.php

#linuxtraining #linuxacademy #linuxcourse

[cdigitalss]

Will OpenPath Create Another Walled Garden?

Will OpenPath Create Another Walled Garden?

By AdExchanger Guest Columnist Friday, June 17th, 2022 – 12:35 am “The Sell Sider” is a column written by the sell side of the digital media community. Today’s column is written by Joseph Lospalluto, US country manager, ShowHeroes Group. Sometimes, as an industry, we don’t always see the significance of a new technology or service until we can examine it in hindsight. At other times, however,…

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[spiritualhustleuk]

Beautiful souls of London (and anywhere else in this cosmos). It fills my heart with so much joy to finally have this beauty in my living room! I truly believe the sound of the gong, as well as other instruments, is great medicine for the mind, body and soul. It helps to clear our head of that pesky monkey mind and catapults us right into a meditative state. I am a rather introverted person and I am used to spend a lot of alone time, yet I always struggle to actually sit down to meditate. There was always something more important to do, right? More work to be done, more laundry to be hung up, more chores to be completed. It is just so easy to get caught up in life's challenges and daily routine. But going to gong baths myself, has really helped to energise me, to look at old patterns that no longer serve me, to make me more aware of the here and now and to expel any negative energetic 'gunk'. I am currently looking for venues to host gong baths and I am hoping to be able to host some 1:1 sessions in our cosy, lovely home. More info on that soon. Stay tuned!! #gongbath#soundhealing #soundjourney #soundscape #wellbeing#mindbodyspirit #gong #paistegong #london#southeastlondon #medicineforthesoul #meditation#relaxation #alteredstatesofconsciousness #openheart #openpath (at Forest Hill, Bromley, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/BsNOMI8HrZO/?igshid=freothmceq2h

#gongbath #soundhealing #soundjourney #soundscape #wellbeing #mindbodyspirit #gong #paistegong #london #southeastlondon #medicineforthesoul #meditation #relaxation #alteredstatesofconsciousness #openheart #openpath

[marketingsalesupdates]

#the trade desk #OpenPath #Advertisers #Premium Publisher Advertising

[salamatteo]

Openpath and Allegion offer security solutions across entire customer deployments

Openpath and Allegion offer security solutions across entire customer deployments

Openpath announces a new cloud-to-cloud integration with Schlage NDE and LE mobile enabled wireless locks from Allegion U.S. This new integration provides a greater selection of cost-effective security solutions across an organization’s entire deployment and makes Openpath one of the only physical access control providers in the commercial space to natively support a Bluetooth credential with…

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#Allegion #Customer #Deployments #entire #offer #Openpath #security #Solutions

[cadreformed]

​*adjusts the mic and gives it a good tap tap* Hey, do you need therapy but cannot afford a therapist??

Are you faced with ungodly waits for a therapist in your area or is your area, like mine, experiencing a therapist shortage? 

Do you live in NYC or other cities where therapy sessions are like 200$ a session?

Buckle in I got some news for ya. Its called Open Path Collective 

What do you pay:

59$:one time fee and it guarantees you a therapy sessions in a locked in rate of 30-60$

What does it get you:

Therapists in your area OR YOUR STATE that charge a special rate for openpath members.

Massive savings

Telehealth therapy sessions are an option and can be done in your car or in any place you can get privacy Ive had sessions with people in their cars, in parking lots, in a wall (long story), in stairwells and workshops of all sorts.

Therapists on OpenPath are dedicated to ensuring EVERYONE gets quality counseling regardless of health insurance status or income.

Heres their client page

Heres their FAQ page

#i love openpath and would marry this service if i could #please reblog its important to have accessible health care #if you guys want telehealth tips hmu

[mojave-pete]

COMPANYS SUPPORTING GUN CONTROL!

Below are the roughly 200 businesses that made the list:

20/20 Vision A&M Records AlleyCorp Alphabet, Inc. Amalgamated Bank Ambition AMC Theatres AOL / Time Warner Ariel Investments LLC Artsy Ascend.io Aspiration AT&T Aura AutoZone Backpack Bad Robot Bain Capital Bank of America Beeswax Begin Betaworks Beyond Meat Bloomberg LP Bonusly Brat Brookfield Property Brud Bumble Burger King Cambly Catch & Release Cerebras Systems Chipotle Circle Medical ClassPass Clearbit Clever Clockwise CNN Color Genomics Comcast Conde Nast Costco Credit Karma Crunchbase Curalate Curtsy Dannon Delta Airlines DICK’S Sporting Goods Disney Company DoorDash Doxel, Inc. Ebay Ecolab Edelman Elektra Labs Emerson Collective Enterprise Eventbrite Farmstead Full Picture Fundera Gap Inc. Gateway Computers GE GEICO Goat Group Golden Graphic Packaging Group Nine Media Gucci Guru Hallmark Cards Hard Rock Cafe Havas Group HBO Hint, Inc. HipDot Hooked Horizon Media Humbition Impossible Foods Interpublic Intuit JOOR Jumbo Privacy Kabbage Inc.

Kadena Kanga Knowable Lattice Levi Strauss & Co. Lucent Technologies Lyft MetaProp.vc MetLife Microsoft Modern Fertility MongoDB Inc. MSNBC MTV Navient NBC Universal NCR Corp. Neighborland NewsCred Nextdoor NowThis Nurx Oaktree Capital Oberndorf Enterprises Oceans OfferUp Okta Omnicom Group Openpath Panera Bread Parabol Paravision Paypal Pinterest Plato Design Postmates Presto Prima Progressive Insurance Prologis Publicis Groupe Quartzy Reddit Ribbon Health Ro Roofstock Royal Caribbean Cruises RXR Realty Sara Lee SelfMade Shoptiques Inc. Showtime Cable Network Shutterstock Inc. Sidewalk Labs Sift Skillshare SkySafe Small Door SmartAsset Snapdocs, Inc. Solve.io Sonic Southwestern Bell Splash Square and Twitter Squarespace Standard Bots Subway Sundia Corporation Sunlight Health Superplastic SurveyMonkey SV Angel Symantec ThirdLove Thisopenspace inc. Thrive Capital Thrive Global ThunderCore Inc. Tillable Tinder TOMS Twilio Uber Uniform Teeth Viosera Therapeutics Virtual Kitchen Voxer Voyage Watsi WayUp Whalar Wizeline WPP X.ai, inc. Y Combinator Yelp Yum Brands Zola

[docgold13]

Question: how should I begin to seek out therapy? I have no idea how to get started, and I'm a bit worried that no therapist will see me due to the pandemic. I don't think I can put this off anymore; I'm not doing well at all.

Sorry to hear that you’ve been doing so poorly.  You’re not alone in this one.  It feels like the entire country is going through a psychological crisis.  

Fortunately, therapists very much are still seeing new patients.  There are some willing to meet face to face, and a huge number who are available for tele-health/skype/facetime/zoom appointments.  If you are okay with working with a therapist remotely, it really opens up your options because you are not limited to just those professionals in your immediate geographical area.  

My caseload has doubled since the beginning of the quarantine.  I’m getting a bit burnt out, but know it’s important and I also know that my fellow shrinks are doing the same.  In short, there are definitely lots and lots of shrinks out there who will be willing to work with you.  

If you have insurance: your insurance company is obliged to provide you with multiple referrals for mental health professionals.  All you need to do is contact your insurance provider and ask for the referrals.  Sometimes they make you go through a series of annoying prerecorded props, but just keep on replying “operator” until it connects you to a living person.  They will offer you a couple of names; just call them all and leave messages asking for them to call you back.  It might tale a minute but they will get back to you.  And if they don’t have openings then ask them for referrals as well.  

If you don’t have insurance, there are lots of therapist who work at sliding scale rates.  

Although it’s a for-profit service, I’ve found BetterHelp to be a pretty useful site.  Its a website that connects patients and therapists.  It can be reached at the following link.  

e-counseling is also a decent service.  They do the same thing and can be found at the following link.  

And OpenPath is a site that specializes in connecting people to therapists who do not have insurance and need to pay at affordable, sliding-scale rates.  They can be found at the follow link.  

Try these out and please feel free to ask again if you need any additional assistance in this regard.  Good luck!

[uncloseted]

i know you're sponsored so i'm not sure if you are able to answer this, but is BetterHelp that good? the premise sounds great, but I've heard a lot of issues about it regarding it

It's all good. I've never made any money off of that sponsorship, so I can say whatever I want. I do genuinely like BetterHelp as a product. I've used it myself and I've had good experiences with it, both in terms of the therapists I've spoken to and the platform itself.

I think it's a good option if a person doesn't have access to therapy through their insurance, if therapy is prohibitively expensive for them, if the therapists in their area aren't diverse enough, or if actually going to see a therapist in person feels overwhelming. I think it's not the best option and it's the product of a broken healthcare system in the US, but it's definitely better than nothing.

I think it's best when used for milder problems- things like getting to know yourself better, understanding your past, bettering the interpersonal relationships in your life, managing stress, achieving goals, and dealing with mild depression and anxiety. Contrary to what they advertise, the therapists they have aren't on call 24/7, and so it's not equipped to deal with immediate issues, such as someone who is actively suicidal, in the middle of a psychotic break, or dissociating, and it's not really equipped to deal with more serious mental health conditions, such as bipolar disorder, eating disorders, OCD, any sort of personality disorder, or any sort of dissociative or psychotic disorder. I'm sure some people have had a lot of success using BetterHelp for those types of conditions, but I think it's more difficult to get the type of care needed on BetterHelp versus a traditional therapist. Therapists on BetterHelp generally can't diagnosed mental health conditions, and they can't prescribe medication.

In terms of the platform, there are definitely issues, but I don't think they're unique to BetterHelp. I've seen therapists say that they don't get paid well from it, which seems kind of unavoidable given that BetterHelp is one of the least expensive therapy options available and isn't funded by insurance. I've seen some complaints about therapists leaving the platform without informing their clients, but that seems like a failure on the therapist's part to me, and it's something that happens in real life. I've seen some people say they didn't like the therapist they were initially assigned, but it's pretty common to try a few therapists before you find one you like when going through insurance as well. My biggest concern is data and confidentiality issues. BetterHelp does claim that it is HIPAA compliant, but it has been criticized in the past for user data breaches.

I don't think it's the best option for therapy, and if you're looking for a teletherapist that's inexpensive, I would check out OpenPath instead. But I do think BetterHelp works as long as you have a realistic expectation of what it can help you with. I think the bad reputation it has on some areas of the internet is exaggerated and a product of the mental health system in general and the need for CYA language in terms of services more than anything particular BetterHelp has done.

[openpathsblog]

AWS training providing academy in India.

Openpath provides AWS Training to meet industrial requirements and helps our students for placement in good corporates and MNCs. Openpath provides Best Amazon Web Services Training in DELHI-NCR. We train on practical knowledge and full job assistance with basic as well as advanced level Amazon Web Services training courses. Training is 100% practical and taught by industrial experts.

Read more: https://www.openpath.in/mastering-aws.php

#awstraining #awscourse #awsacademy #openpathacademy

[artielu]

I finally finally finally took the decision of seeking help but as a restaurant worker making the minimum wage in Texas is kinda impossible to afford it. So after much research I found openpath and they have a team that will accommodate and they’re much cheaper. Just wanted to let you know this info maybe your followers could use some help. Your blog and posts have been my help for a long time

Anon, I'm so proud of you for getting help. Bad brain is a lying liar who lies, but it can be so damn loud that it's hard to hear anything else. Of course you, generic you, go see a doctor when your arm is broken because you aren't expected to heal that correctly by yourself. The idea that we shouldn't see a doctor or other professional when part of our brain is broken is nonsensical and cruel.

We all have baggage, and for some of us, we need and deserve professional help dealing with it. Maybe you've survived some awful experiences, or maybe your brain is having a hard time dealing with some experience that your asshole bad brain tells you "shouldn't be a big deal; just get over it." Your bad brain is a lying liar who lies. Fuck "should". There is no "should". You don't have to feel this way. You don't deserve to feel this way. You can make a change with help. A mental health professional, whether a M.D. in person or a trained counselor via videochat or phone is a good thing.

It's infuriating that our stupid American health care system makes it difficult to access mental health professionals, but don't let that stop you. There are resources and sliding scales and I am so thrilled that you found a way to access services you need and deserve. Way to fucking go.

And some of us have brains lousy at making certain chemicals. I can't make enough serotonin myself, so store bought (prescribed!) is fine. Diabetics need to buy insulin. It's the same.

You deserve to feel better, to turn down the volume on bad brain voice. Mine has never actually gone away, but I can usually identify when it's talking and can tell it to fuck off or play "real or not real?". Usually. It's a lifelong battle for me.

Getting help is the right thing to do. And know that you'll probably feel worse for a while because you're gonna be digging around in and exposing your wounds to fresh air, shit you've been ignoring or hiding because denial is one of my favorite non-coping mechanisms and maybe yours too. It's going to fucking suck. But! Keep going and get it properly treated by a professional that you trust and you will heal. And be honest with your mental health professionals. You will feel better.

You don't deserve to feel badly and live with a top volume bad brain voice. You deserve to feel good and to have many more good days than bad days.

Consider following @wilwheaton another fantastic outspoken advocate for mental health.

Thank you for checking in. Please keep doing that. You are loved and worthy of love and your bad brain voice doesn't get to control you anymore. Fight for your mental health. You can win.

#bad brain #bad brain voice #mental health #artielu answers an ask #ask artielu

[deepfinds-blog]

OpenPath raises $7M to help you access your office with your phone

OpenPath raises $7M to help you access your office with your phone

If you’ve ever worked in an office building, chances are somebody issued you a keycard or NFC-enabled badge to open the doors to the building. Those cards and badges do their job, but they can be both cumbersome and prone to problems. OpenPath wants to do away with all of these issues and add a new level of convenience to this whole process by replacing these access cards with the phone you…

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#7M #access #Office #OpenPath #Phone #raises

[outlawpoet]

January 4th 2019 Update

New Year New Direction!

I’ve gone to Mattel, where I accepted a contract to be an R&D ML Engineer for them. It’s similar to work I did for Disney, and I’m looking forward to making smart toys and video games again. There’s really nothing like a happy kid engrossed in something you made. The position is very focused on applying advanced tech, so I’m also happy to be back using my AI experience more heavily after a few years of being a generalist. 

I spent a fair amount of time looking for a new job after getting laid off at Hyperloop, and one place I came very close to joining was OpenPath. I have a number of friends there, they have a great product, I can’t recommend it highly enough. And they are still hiring if you happen to match one of their openings. It just came down to a great opportunity at Mattel I couldn’t say no to. 

Still running things at Crashspace, if you’re in the LA area, come by on Tuesday nights to check it out. 

My new years resolution is to spend an hour a day working on a project for myself, hopefully some of which should bear fruit I can put on here. 

#update #jobs jobs jobs

[totalspiffage]

Can you give advice as how to deal with the fact that people hate your guts and its making you severely depressed?

You can't control other people or their thoughts. If you did something, do your best to make amends. If not, just continue to carry goodness and kindness as much as you can. Not everyone is worth being liked by. If it's a specific environment, find one that is supportive, be it online or in person.

If at all possible, talk to a professional. I recommend openpath (it's 50 to register, then 30-50 a session) or look up sliding scale clinics. Therapy saved my life, but remember not all therapists work for every person.

#depression shit