Thomas Palumbo @writtenbythomas - Tumblr Blog

Black Rock Mountain fire lookout, in the Ghost River Wilderness, Alberta

Established in 1929 and was serviced by packhorses until 1952

Photo by Nicky Winn / @nwiiaa

Therapy

I recently wrote an article on how the stigma towards mental health is adversely affecting those who suffer from it. One of the ways I suggested it be dealt with is to openly discuss your own experiences with mental health issues. I then saw on a psychology subreddit that someone was trying to get a hashtag trending on twitter where people come out and say that they see a therapist to remove the stigma that comes with going to therapy. I don’t think it’s a big deal but I have seen a therapist for over a year now. It began because I was having issues with insomnia and needed guidance. Now I see one regularly to talk about the things that pop up in my life.

I have plenty of anxieties. Some of them are legitimate and others make no sense. I still have worries about not getting enough sleep. I still worry about irrational things. Seeing a therapist doesn’t make you crazy, in fact not seeing one can make you crazy.

I encourage whoever reads this to continue what I’m doing here. Don’t be afraid to open up, at least to those who love and care about you, if you’re suffering from depression, anxiety, or addiction. Most importantly seek professional help from a therapist.

More Ramblings

I’ve been more interested in the housing market collapse of 2007 lately. Great intro sentence I know. I watched the movie ‘The Big Short’ a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it. The narration was well done. Ryan Gosling’s character (and others) break the fourth wall through out different points in the movie. It was really cleverly done. It was usually done to point out whether or not a particular occurrence was factual, as the movie is based on true stories.

Anyways, last night I watched the documentary ‘Money for Nothing’ on Netflix which was mainly about how the Federal Reserve impacts the US economy and how it did nothing to prevent the housing collapse.

I highly recommend both even if you have the faintest interest in those topics. Definitely ‘The Big Short’ at least to get you started.

I need to pick things back up with Zazn’s social media. The new development team is making some progress which is great. Until next time...

Current State of Thangz

I turn 26 in a couple of hours. I’m not writing this as some emotional post about my birthday and all I’ve learned blah blah. I just feel like writing.

I’ve been writing more for my app’s blog (zazn.io/b) if you’re interested. I wrote a post today on anonymity in online communities. It wasn’t anything ground breaking but it was a fun topic to write about. My writing skills are pretty poor if I’m being honest so I figure doing more of it should help.

I’ve been trying to get a couple of things launched as of late. I have my app which is currently in the hands of a new development team and will hopefully release before the month ends. Zazn also has a blog I created (above). It was originally Mindfulnessdaily.co because of a partnership I had with the writer of the posts. He backed out months ago and I let the blog idle. I recently picked back up writing posts of my own and had the idea to merge it under Zazn’s brand. It would have been that way to begin with if not for the partnership.

In addition to that I’m working on my dad’s recipe site. This one is a little less creative and a little more analytical. I’m looking to see if I can turn this site into some kind of profit with frequent posting and good SEO. Oh yea..there is also the fact that despite letting the URL and site die years ago the facebook page I created for the original site (it was called myitaliancookbook.com) amassed 4,000+ likes. So we have an audience that a lot of new sites would love to have. It would be a shame to not try to tap into that.

I’ve had so many failures of ideas to date that I’m not sure if it’s my ideas or the execution of those ideas...or both. I’d like to follow these ideas through it’s just important to know when to cut your losses. I’m hoping Zazn’s redesign and in-app purchases will generate some user retention. Right now I get anywhere from 2-14 downloads a day with zero advertising. My only guess is that these are the users searching for keywords that match my app in the app store and because my app is so low on the list I get the last of the users willing to scroll down that far? lol I don’t know because I’m not advertising for it but yet here I am with a steady stream of downloads per day. The goal is to bump that up. Lezzzz doooo eeeeeet.

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2016 Update

I haven’t really written on here in awhile so I figured I’d update anyone interested.

I ended my six year relationship in august of 2015. It was extremely difficult but I know both of us are better off this way. I focused really heavily on my work during my breakup which helped keep me occupied. When I say work I’m referring to side projects as well as my full-time job as a designer. In late October I was let go from the agency I worked at for almost two years.

This was a blessing in disguise. I knew I wasn’t super happy at that company and I had also met a new girl just before that happened. Being unemployed and freelancing has allowed me to spend a lot more time with her than I’d have been able to working a normal 9-5.

Being single was strange. 6 years of always having someone to fall back on, listen to you, be there for you, and support you in general was something I had definitely taken for granted. I learned to look to my family for support and most importantly reflect inwards on a lot of issues that were happening at that time. I feel like I entered a dark place emotionally but I know I never questioned the decision I made. I’ve had plenty of time to learn about myself and I’m stronger because of this.

#2016 #update