Alright Teesside Blogging Workshop - link round-up

Hello there regular readers - and a special welcome if you've just popped in after attending the 'Blogging & Mental Health' workshop at the Alright Teesside World Mental Health Day event today.  Hello again!

If you were at the workshop:

• Below are links to all of my mental-health related blog posts I mentioned during my half of the workshop;
• Plus links to my 'Push-up Bra Blogging' online course (it's all free, you can just hop from one post to the next picking up tips as you go).
• And the Instagrammer I mentioned to. Just keep scrolling for all the links ... 

If you weren't at the workshop:

• Consider this a re-cap of some of the mental health themed articles I've posted here over the years.
• If you are someone who's ever left a comment on one of those posts - thank you - and please know that I used you as an example of the power of the blogging community at the workshop today! 

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Links to the blog posts I mentioned during the workshop:

Here's how I compared anxiety to having to look after a funfair goldfish:

Here's a post where I combined a regular post about a day out ... with being honest about the anxieties I had about going: 

And here's the post where I talk about how my anxieties nearly made me want to give up writing:

And this one's the post where I originally revealed how I'd experienced depression in the past, as well as explaining what a plastic zebra had to do with my recovery. 

And here's a link up to my guest post on the Mind blog.

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Info on Instagram: 

• You can find me on Instagram @withjuliekirk

• Laura Jane Williams Instagrams at -  @superlativelylj - and she's a great example of how you can use IG as a micro-blogging platform.
• And if you want to read through the Instagram posts I've written about my own dog phobia, you can find those on IG by searching for the hashtag #phobiatales - or by clicking here:  #phobiatales 
• And, if you want to group together a particular set of your own posts, remember to create your own hashtag too. (Simply decide on the words you want >> hit the # key >> write the word with NO GAPS between them >> and that's it! It automatically becomes a link to click. Remember to tag all the similar posts with the same hashtag, and they'll all be visible when you click it! 

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Links to my *free* blogging course:
If you're brand new to blogging some of this might be information to bear in mind for further down the blogging road - however, there's still lots you can pick and choose from to see what helps! (and - for the record - it has nothing to do with bras! It's just meant to be a memorable comparison!)

• Here's the introduction - to help you get acquainted. There's a wealth of information in there covering: what the series is all about and what it isn't; who the series is for ... and who it isn't.

1. The 'Why?' Approaches: Why would I want to blog more? What's in it for me?

• Chapter 1:  The McFly Approach Part 1 : or 'it's all about you'
• Chapter 2: The McFly Approach Part 2 : or 'it's still all about you'

2. The 'What?' Approaches: But what am I going to find to blog about?

• Chapter 3: Special Guest post from Caroline South of Scraps of Us
• Chapter 4: The Push-Up Bra Approach : or 'making the most of what you've already got'
• Chapter 5: The Groundhog Day Approach: or 'exploiting the benefits of repetition' 
• Chapter 6: Special Guest post from Gabrielle Treanor of The Green Gables
• Chapter 7: Special Guest post from Jennifer Grace of Jennifer Grace Creates
• Chapter 8: The Austin Kleon Approach:  or 'how to steal like an artist'

3. The 'How?' Approaches: Getting organised + streamlining your blogging. [Plus a note on blogging-pains!]

• Chapter 9: The Kenny Rogers Approach: or 'you gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em etc'
• Chapter 10: The Freezer Meals Approach: 'making in bulk but savouring one at a time' IF YOU STRUGGLE TO FIND TIME TO BLOG THEN THIS CHAPTER INCLUDES MY #1 TOP TIP OF THE ENTIRE SERIES!! 
• Chapter 11: The Dr. Who Approach: 'how travelling in time can come in useful'

And finally ...

• A course summary, a round-up and a reflection on the other side of the screen ... your blog readers + community.

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There's plenty of reading here to keep you busy for a while so ... I'll leave you to it!

I hope you find something here today that helps inspire you to:

• start a blog of your own 
• OR to join Instagram
• OR to simply start thinking about the stories you tell yourself in daily life ... and the stories you could maybe share with others some time in the future.

Here's to exploring, explaining or escaping your mental health issues through storytelling, wherever and however feels right to you. 

Julie