Bug's FREE Art Raffle to Celebrate Recovery!! 💜 [ENDED]

[xSuperMario64x]

hello everyone!

to give some context, about a month and a half ago I entered a program to help me recover from my mental health issues. I desperately needed to see a psychiatrist since I realized I had Bipolar II and really needed to be treated for it, and this was the best way for me to get in to see one more quickly. I was honestly at one of the lowest points in my life in terms of my mental health, and I prayed I could recover from it with this program.
well here I am, about 6 weeks later, I will be discharged soon and I feel better than I ever have. after battling Bipolar II for years I finally started a medication for it and I actually have control over myself now, I'm no longer slipping into depressive episodes or dealing with hypomanic episodes. I've learned to see and acknowledge my emotions, and let them go instead of holding onto them and making myself more miserable. I've learned to validate myself and my experiences and emotions, especially as an autistic/ADHD person. I've learned to manage my executive dysfunction and push myself to do things even when I don't really feel like doing it. and most of all, I've gotten my priorities straight. with this, and my new upcoming job opportunity at a nearby library (my dream job), I feel that I'm truly on the road to recovery and I have a lot of hope for the future!!

to celebrate my recovery, I'm holding a free art raffle! this is the kind of art I will be providing for the winner:

a full-body drawing for 1-2 characters, including props, fully colored/shaded (watercolor or chalk style), with a semi-detailed background.

to enter, all you have to do is post in this thread and tell me what you're grateful for in your life! I will be using this website here, to put all usernames into a wheel and spin it to find our winner! the deadline to enter is April 22nd, 2023 @ 9pm EDT.

thank you for your interest and good luck to everyone who enters!

Spoiler: entries

Mimi Cheems
Corrie
Venn
Roxxy
Aquilla
nyx~
Croconaw
ali.di.magix
xara
Zerous
Gene.
allainah
pottercrossing
kiwikenobi

 

[Mimi Cheems]

I'm grateful for my person. He's always so kind and patient with me when I have meltdowns or moments where I'm very upset. There are times he does lose his patience with me but I realize that to be something that is human. He's saved my life in so many ways. He's helped me find more meaning to life, he's taught me how to be more grateful for people like him.. and I'll always cherish what I have with him.. even if we go our separate ways in the future, I'll always remember the impact he's had in my life. I will always love him and continue to be grateful for him.

Thank you for the raffle and congrats on recovery! I'm so proud of you! c:
I also have bipolar II (and BPD), so I totally understand where you're coming from. On the 19th I start an intensive outpatient group program... nervous about it but I do realize I need the help a lot more than I think.. ;w; You're not alone! If you ever need someone at anytime, I'm always here c:

 

[Corrie]

First of all, you should be EXTREMELY proud! That's so amazing! Great job! That's no easy feat! I hope you keep on the incline and have an amazing life

I'm thankful for my family. They're the most important thing to me. Without them, I don't know what I'd do. I treasure them more than anything else in my life and that will never change. They're number 1!

Thank you very much for hosting this raffle!

 

[xSuperMario64x]

I'm grateful for my person. He's always so kind and patient with me when I have meltdowns or moments where I'm very upset. There are times he does lose his patience with me but I realize that to be something that is human. He's saved my life in so many ways. He's helped me find more meaning to life, he's taught me how to be more grateful for people like him.. and I'll always cherish what I have with him.. even if we go our separate ways in the future, I'll always remember the impact he's had in my life. I will always love him and continue to be grateful for him.

Thank you for the raffle and congrats on recovery! I'm so proud of you! c:
I also have bipolar II (and BPD), so I totally understand where you're coming from. On the 19th I start an intensive outpatient group program... nervous about it but I do realize I need the help a lot more than I think.. ;w; You're not alone! If you ever need someone at anytime, I'm always here c:

that's so sweet omg!!
and thank you, I wanted to say that the intensive outpatient program is what I've been through and am soon discharging from, it honestly really has changed my life for the better. really hope it goes well for you and serves you well like it has for me!

 

[Venn]

First of all congrats!

What am I most grateful for my parents, especially my mother. I don't know where I would be without them but it's nice to have their support behind whatever I do. Also my dogs, they are awesome and provide so much happiness in our homes.

Thank you for the raffle

 

[Roxxy]

You are doing so amazingly well Be proud of yourself. I can’t say much on this in public but I do understand. Please look after yourself, you are amazing

I will keep this simple, I am forever grateful for my beautiful son. Life isn’t easy but he is just the kindest, sweetest most wonderful person. It was never easy being a single parent but we have always been a team and got through so much together. I am blessed and so proud of the man he has become.

Please take care

 

[Aquilla]

I think it's very brave of you to speak so publicly about the difficult things you have gone through recently. I am very happy for you that you were able to get help and that things are looking up for you. Big congratulations on getting your dream job, that's huge! I would love to chat with you about executive dysfunction if you are comfortable to do so, as I struggle with this immensely in my day to day life as an (unmedicated) adhd-er and would greatly appreciate any tips and tricks you might know to trick my lil old brain into letting me do stuff :]

As for what I'm grateful for - I don't even know where to begin. My family, more specifically my mom has always be a great source of strength to me and I'm grateful every day for the relationship I have with her and am dreading the time when she won't be around any longer. I also can't believe my luck to have found my spouse, who is my perfect match and is infinitely patient with me and my many little flaws. I am so blessed to know my friends, physical and online, to live somewhere safe, to have a home to return to and enough food in my fridge to have the luxury of worrying over what to cook tomorrow.

Thank you for the opportunity, I am very fond of your art style and love the expressiveness of your characters and art. It would be a great honor to add your artwork to my collection. c:

 

[xSuperMario64x]

I think it's very brave of you to speak so publicly about the difficult things you have gone through recently. I am very happy for you that you were able to get help and that things are looking up for you. Big congratulations on getting your dream job, that's huge! I would love to chat with you about executive dysfunction if you are comfortable to do so, as I struggle with this immensely in my day to day life as an (unmedicated) adhd-er and would greatly appreciate any tips and tricks you might know to trick my lil old brain into letting me do stuff :]

I could absolutely give some advice with that! honestly I'm also unmedicated for ADHD and I don't ever plan on taking medication for that kind of thing, so I do still struggle with executive dysfunction a lot, but there are a few little hacks you can try to get yourself to do stuff. feel free to send me a DM!
also love what you said abt what you're grateful for, as well as your compliments! I mostly put myself and my journey w mental health out there so that people know they're not alone, and can maybe be inspired to help themselves or realize that it won't always be awful and finally have some hope.

 

[nyx~]

Thank you so much for doing this, and congratulations!! I hope life continues to improve and be amazing to you^^

I'll forever be most grateful for my family. My parents are so supportive of me and I don't know what I would do or where I would be without them. I've struggled my whole life to this day with making and keeping friends, but having my family in my corner to go out and have fun with has lessened how much it hurts sometimes. Knowing they believe in me and will be there for me gives me strength to keep going and give it my all in doing what I love^^

 

[Croconaw]

Thank you so much for the raffle. I’m happy your life is improving and hope it only gets better for you. It’s not easy to speak about these things but this forum is a great outlet, with many open-minded people. You do deserve to be happy.

I’m very thankful for my favorite person. I mention her quite a bit in the “what are you happy about today” thread but I really am thankful for her because she’s had so many reasons to walk away or be angry with me. I am overly obsessed with her sometimes and I try to apologize but she always says she loves me the way I am. I never feel like she’s pretending, just being nice or invalidating my emotions. I’ve never had anyone so willing to still be in my life after realizing how much of a pain I can be. She’s my favorite person so things are already 10x more intense with her, but still… I couldn’t ask for a better one. ♡

 

[ali.di.magix]

Awww I'm so glad that you're on the path to recovery now!! I've seen you struggling for so long, it must feel so liberating to get a diagnosis and treatment as well as finally figuring out what's going on with your health! Congrats on the new job as well, thats awesome!!

I'm grateful for a lot of things right now, it's hard to pinpoint just one thing. I'm grateful that the people I work with have always been supportive of my choices when I've been at a low point (e.g. when I broke my leg allowing me to go home to recover, more recently letting me have a week off after the cyclone to recover mentally). I'm grateful to have a roof over my head, access to food, water and the necessities. I'm grateful for my family - even though my feelings can be mixed and we have our disagreements, they still love and support me when I need it. I'm also grateful to have access to the healthcare (especially mental healthcare) I need

 

[Xara]

first of all, i am so so proud of you bug, and i hope you’re proud of yourself, too seeking help is never easy, especially when you’re at a low point and everything feels hopeless, but the fact that you did is incredible. and you put in the work, and i am so so happy that you’re doing better. you’ve learned such valuable tools, and i truly hope that you continue to feel good! best of luck at your new library job, and congrats again on landing it!

i feel like my own mental health gets in the way of me expressing my gratitude at times, so i really appreciate getting to think about this. i have so much to be grateful for, and one of those things is the fact that i have a roof over my head. i know that’s probably a cliche answer heh, but i really am so grateful that i have a warm, safe place to live, a roof over my head, a comfy bed to sleep in at night etc. it’s not the greatest place to live by any means, and my family and i struggle a lot financially, but i know things could be so much worse and i’m grateful that they’re not.

thank you for hosting this lovely raffle! your art is always *chefs kiss*

 

[Zerous]

Congratulations!! I'm so happy to hear you're doing better, that level of recovery is no small feat, you should be proud of yourself Also congratulations on your new job opportunity!!

I'll always be grateful for the people I'm lucky enough to be surrounded by. I've been lucky to have such supportive parents who care about me, and I'll forever be grateful to my amazing partner. They're so kind and supportive, and being around them brings me so much joy.

Thank you for hosting this raffle! I wish you the best in the future

 

[Gene.]

CONGRATULATIONS?! That's such a huge accomplishment; I'm so beyond glad you're feeling much better! Along with your new upcoming job, I can't imagine how happy you must feel! Thank you so much for this raffle; I'd love to enter, despite how difficult it's gonna be to include all of the things I'm grateful for. Above all, I'm really grateful for my partner, he's helped me through so much in my life, and he goes out of his way to make time for me and support me every single day. I'm so incredibly grateful for all of my friends who always check on me and make me feel included and special. I'm very thankful for my parents, who are always accommodating to me and extremely helpful and supportive of me, my career & my schooling. I'm also gonna say that I'm grateful for video games as a whole; I would never have met my partner or any of my friends if it weren't for the games I played with my dad and brother growing up, and specifically Animal Crossing, for giving me a community I always feel safe and accepted in.

Got me feeling like it's Thanksgiving over here

 

[allainah]

First of all before I post my entry; I just wanna say I'm SO SO SO proud of you for recovering! It can be HARD. I'm still recovering myself from BPD/PTSD/Agoraphobia. Especially going to a program... I give you all the props in the world ;-; I've been offered to go to ones before to help me but always refuse because they scare me. Very proud of you <333 And keep up the hard work cause sometimes mental illness can come crashing on us again! I hope nothing but happy day ahead for you

I'm grateful for a couple people but I'd say my best friend Ailani. She's seen me in some very dark times from my mental illnesses ^ and b/c of my illness it's made me say some very horrible things to her : ( She never once abandoned me or left me <3 Heck I remember one time I started yelling at her while going through an episode and she knew that I was in one instantly, she calmed me down and we were both laughing out loud at the end of it. I've known her since I was 9 years old online and I hope one day I can meet her in person ;-; <3 I love her so much.

Thank you for doing this! Congrats to whoever wins and can't wait to see what you draw for them

 

[pottercrossing]

Okay, first of all, congratulations! I'm so proud of you for doing what you're doing I know it can be hard sometimes, but keep pushing through, you got this! And if you ever need to talk, my DMs are always open.

I'm thankful for my girlfriend Hailey and my BFF Riley. They have seen me at some of the lowest points of my life, and they have yet to abandon me, which is quite impressive, most leave as soon as I show a single sign of weakness, vulnerability, and/or discomfort, but they both have stuck with me ever since we first met, and it appears that they won't be leaving anytime soon.

 

[kiwikenobi]

So glad to hear you're doing better! And I love that drawing you did of my paratroopa warrior, so I'd be very excited to enter the raffle!

I'm grateful for coffee. It's warm and sweet and gives me energy, and it's there for me every day when I need it.

 

[xSuperMario64x]

bump, taking entries til this saturday <3

 

[xSuperMario64x]

ty to everyone who entered!! I will send the winner a DM soon with details/info <3

we have a winner, and that winner is...

Spoiler

@Corrie!

 

[Foreverfox]

Didn’t want to enter since I just got lovely art from you - I wanted to give others a chance at having some art from you too! But now that the winner has been chosen (congrats @Corrie!), I want to say that I’m so proud of you for having the courage to speak out about the struggle and growth you’ve had. It’s not easy, but you did it and others will benefit from knowing they aren’t alone in their struggles.