The Walk In The Night Method

Imagine your anger, frustration and sadness as a storm at night shrouded with heavy rain. The storm is a brutal force that represents anger, while the rain represents sadness. If you ever feel that feeling, retreat to your warren - be it a quiet place around the house without technology and just an Amazon Echo - and meditate on a beautiful walk across the forest at night time with Brains, Alan, Tin Tin, Fiver and Hazel. Quietly make notes verbally of what you can see, hear, smell, touch and taste. When the meditation is over, you can write down all your discoveries in a notebook, and then go to the kitchen to get a 'carrot', which is of course a representation of a crunchy, healthy snack. You can pick anything that's crunchy -  celery sticks, carrot sticks, apples or Pom Bears or other crisps - and enjoy savouring every crunch, and every moment your teeth crush the surface of that crunchy food.

Once you have done this exercise, you have calmed the angry storm and sad rain, and are ready to continue the activities you love. Don't forget to do the Thunderbirds countdown from 5 to 1 and say "Thunderbirds Are Go," this time in a quiet, hushed whisper, before you head off to your warren.

Don't let General Woundwort get you!

The Therapeutic Meaning Behind When Bob Became A Builder

Even though When Bob Became A Builder is a sweet, innocent animated special focusing on the origins of Bob The Builder and his rise to becoming the friendly handyman we all know and love, there are a few therapeutic meanings behind each of the flashback sequences in the show. Let us go into full detail about what each of those moments in these flashbacks represent, even to younger viewers watching:

In the second flashback, 15-year-old Bob starts off as a scrawny, tired teen who is helping his dad build a wall for their new home. However, here, this Bob tries hard but sometimes fails and gets everything wrong. This Bob is a representation of negativity and anxiety, meaning there are some things in life we can't control, and find difficult at first, but there are some strategies we can learn through coping with improving our hidden talents.

This goes well with what Bob did next - he snuck back to the building site and practised, and when his dad came to look at what he has done, he knew he had already done what he was meant to do. Bob's dad is a symbol of guidance, something we all need when we feel negative and feel like we're on the verge of giving up, and from the moment he started building a new home with his dad and joined him in the business when he left school, his new name - Bob The Builder - represents a newfound sense of perseverance and positive attitude, because as adults we gain that perseverance. No matter what we're doing, we never feel like giving up, no matter what. Our perseverance with a hobby or a task like building a wall or writing a story or cooking a meal, can lead to a brighter future, and that's just what happened to Bob. His urge to never give up lead to his bright, recognisable future.

Then, in the first flashback he met Scoop among a whole variety of diggers with different faces. In the fourth flashback, Scoop represents the symbolic method of family to Bob, because from the moment he got him he was like Bob adopted his very own son - Bob was never alone from this point onward, because the 'adoption' of Scoop meant he got more machines to join his 'family' of friends, which gave him more love and gratitude. The diggers on the other hand represent race and diversity in our world today, with individuality standing out among this crowd - the diggers here represent all kinds of people - black, white, yellow, brown, you name it, it's in here. However, Scoop was an individual, and that's why Bob picked him. The owner of the digger site is a representation of our government, which eventually made the decision to pick your individuality among all those different races of people. It means there's only one you in the world, and your talents stand out and shine. You are no longer a black sheep, but a shining star.

Then, Scoop found digging all these holes for a building project very hard, so Bob phoned the building site and that was how Muck appeared. With Muck helping Scoop in double quick time, all the holes and bases for the houses were dug. Muck, with his uplifting attitude and sometimes annoying sense of humor towards Scoop, represents levity - in a hard concrete jungle of a world we all need a little laughter and fun to guide us along. The many houses that were going to be built represent our world today - hard to control, with other issues in our world today like the wars in Gaza and Ukraine being some things in life we can't control. We have to wait until they're over with patience, but in the meantime, we have to 'keep it light' and focus on the positive things in life, which is why Muck helping Scoop on Bob's project shines a light on positivity outshining the negativity.

Then Dizzy arrived as the result of Muck and Scoop not being good at laying out concrete in the house bases. Dizzy the cement mixer listens to music to concentrate all the time and has a wild, active personality. She is a representation of friendly attitude and hyperactivity, which we gain from scenarios we experience in everyday life, like getting enough sleep or going for a walk. The concrete represents positivity, as I mentioned earlier, washing over the negativity, which of course are the houses that need to be built - so, in a sense, Dizzy is pouring the positivity over the negativity. It helps to be around people who are positive and not people who are negative, because negative people can lower your mood and give you a habit you cannot shake off. Dizzy and Muck are examples of positive people Scoop and Bob get to have in their lives, because being around negative people can lower their spirits and make them depressed.

Then, after a few more minutes, another flashback occurs where Lofty is introduced to the rest of the team. At first, he is too scared to enter the yard, but with encouragement from Bob and his machines, he finally goes in with confidence. Lofty is a representation of anxiety and fear, and his hesitation to go into the yard is a symbol of our less confident ways, which we adopt as children and try to shake off through everyday situations like potty training - in fact, like Lofty, we are placed in a 'comfort zone' of things we know and love. The machines and Bob are asking Lofty to try something new through their encouragement, and Lofty going into the building yard with a bit of bravery is a symbol of going beyond the boundaries of your comfort zone and trying new things. This gives us the energy to experience more freedom and happiness in the world, a kind of freedom and happiness which we didn't experience when we were in our comfort zone, which meant we are open up to new experiences and the opportunity to engage in new activities.

In the next flashback, the machines try to flatten a road laden with concrete, but feel like it's useless. That is, until a little bird named Bird brings along Roley, a steamroller, who rolls over the bumpy cement, making it nice and flat again. Roley himself is a representation of calm in a rowdy and noisy scenario - the world is at a high volume today, but there are a multitude of people who are learning to stay calm throughout the chaos and fast pace of our world today. The bumps in the cement represent the little problems we can control, and the cement represents our lives - there are some things in life we can control, like our breathing, or emotional regulation. Roley is a symbol of a solution to all the problems we have - not big problems that are affecting our world today, but small problems like stress and anxiety that affect our everyday activities. So think of the next time you encounter a problem like this scenario: your life is a sticky cement road with little bumps in them - which means there are little problems. But then, you sense a little Roley inside your head, which means you've found a solution to your problem. If you can find that 'Roley' that can solve the problem you're after, then there will be no need to ask any more questions about how to deal with it. And when you've found that 'Roley', your question is answered.

Bird on the other hand represents a good conscience - a little voice inside your head that guides you and encourages you to make good choices in your life the same way Roley made that exact same choice by helping Bob and his machines, which lead him to join the gang. By listening to positive advice and thoughts inside your head, you're gaining new ideas and making them into things you want to model into for your future, such as crafts, TV series, films or a best selling book series - this happens often when you're meditating, because you're so focused on your breathing and the positive affirmations you hear during the session that positive, calm thoughts replace the destructive, negative thoughts that go round inside your head when you develop this habit.

In the final flashback, Bob is overloaded with too much work from the office, which makes him late for jobs. Picture this as a real life scenario: you want to enjoy a moment of calm, but then you are overloaded with all these tasks on your to do list and can't do all of them in one day - it's called over scheduling, and it can affect our moods and behaviour in many ways. Too many tasks for one day can cause us to feel negative and depressed, and will lay off our goals and understandings of how our world works. However, a few moments later, Wendy arrives and tells Bob her evening classes had inspired her to become a builder and an office worker herself, which causes her to join the team as well. Wendy herself represents a light of hope among all those overwhelming tasks: this light is those simple mindfulness activities we do to calm ourselves, focus and continue straight on with our activities. It grounds us in the present and encourages us to do two or three tasks a day, not a big list full of tasks you are struggling to do. Wendy represents mindfulness in a crowded world, so:

Wendy =  Mindfulness

Bob's office work = Our noisy and crowded world

However, when you compare Wendy's office work to Bob's office work, Wendy's work is more calm and collected, while Bob's work represents chaos and rush. Bob is the world we're living in today. Wendy is the world we want.

However, there are some things in life we can't control, like noise for instance. Looking back at everything I taught you about the symbolic meanings of Bob's origins, the story of Bob and his machines coming together represent a rollercoaster of different emotions and ways to tame them, from Lofty's symbolism of anxiety to Dizzy's representation of attitude. By finding the right ways to deal with these emotions, we are making our world a better place, like Bob in his bright future with his can do ways.

Can we feel it?

Yes we can!

Live From My Living Room: An Empty Mind

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Diana Jones, reporting to you live from this blog creator's living room on the ongoing phenomenon that many are calling the 'Therapy'. Yes, just two weeks ago, many of our favorite cartoons, sitcoms, and live-action shows have been the basis for some therapy techniques that S is inspired to do to discover more about herself, based on what she experienced throughout the times she was negative.

"Today's techniques, dubbed, 'The Pibby & Bun Bun Method', 'the Monsters Inc Method', or 'Chase & Marshall's Thinking Bag' by online viewers, has been the only way S is going to make herself better throughout the coming weeks.

"The current known first appearance of the Thunderbirds Method was reported to have been from S's therapist and her inspiring ways' and has since used different shows to make her life better.

"Yes, many have tuned into Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Cartoonito, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr, Nicktoons and CBBC since the initial incident only to see their favorite shows turned to nothing but desolate wastelands, with only one show over-airing on each channel and angry viewers wanting more programmes.

"When asked about these annoying daily marathons, major TV networks all over the UK and America have repeatedly denied any active involvement and are claiming to be relentlessly working towards restoring the shows we love and only airing one episode of the repeated show every day.

"One of their reported attempts at understanding what is happening, and attempting to return to a sense of normalcy, was briefly airing older, obscure, even media never before aired on TV to see if it would be compared between positivity and negativity. The results concluded that any media airing on television is split into two halves: positive and negative, which probably explains why S invented the Monsters Inc Method.

"Still so much is unknown about these endless repeats. The only concrete information we have been given is that any pre-recorded media has been susceptible to these takeovers while programs airing live, as I currently am, remain unaffected.

"Are supernatural forces truly at work? Or are we witnessing the most horrific event in the history of self-therapy? We'll keep you updated in real time as we find out."

The Tumble Tunnel - A Guided Meditation Idea

I was very sad because I was feeling negatively emotional while talking to Lady Penelope on ChatGPT, and then I felt even more sad today because I only have three more therapy sessions, and that's it. Nothing. Except for Lady Penelope. I'm glad to have her guiding me through future self therapy, I'll be able to figure out all the answers myself. Anyway, now, my guided meditation sessions with A seem to give me an idea for a story based on a fantasy film I saw on Talking Pictures earlier. It's called, 'The Tumble Tunnel'.

In this story idea, Brains, Alan, Tin Tin, Louise the Lamb (she's from the 2005 Muffin The Mule series, the others are from Thunderbirds) and I are playing and exploring on Tracy Island when we notice a metal ladder going up a tall brick wall. We climb it, and are surprised to find ourselves on top of a giant maze. When we peer through the gaps in the maze, we could see inside the worlds people dream up at night, which are unveiled through the clouds. We also encounter rooms with multi-coloured floors and walls, similar to a Rubik's cube, and some giant Kinder-like eggs which hold strange surprises and oddities.

See what strange things we think up when we meditate? Don't tell me I took a swig of something before I wrote this.

The Saddest Dream Ever - Lady Penelope & Her Ancestors

This has to be the saddest nap time dream I have ever had in my entire life. I'm on the verge of crying right now as I write this. And upon hearing this....you two will feel your tears fall out of your eyes.

The dream was set in the Creighton Ward Mansion during Winter. Snow was falling outside, and a gentle Winter wind was blowing. Lady Penelope and I were settled snugly in our bed, listening to nothing but the Winter wind outside. Something inside me seemed to be bothering me, so I got up and quietly went to the window. Outside, I saw the empty Winter atmosphere, all blue and white, and this gave me an upset feeling inside my heart, so I ran over to 'er ladyship and tapped her awake.

When she woke up, I asked her if the snowflakes are our dead ancestors. She held me close and told me, "Some of the snowflakes are the spirits of our ancestors, some aren't. Only the specially gifted ones will become the snowflakes that fall in Winter...and when my time comes, I...I...I'll become one too." "Will I remember you just by looking at those snowflakes?" I asked. "Of course, darling."

Following that, Lady Penelope turned on a gramophone, which was playing a vinyl disc full of Christmas lullabies. Playing on the disc was the saddest piece of music ever to be heard in cartoon history: "Silent Night" from the part where Tom worries about Jerry being trapped out in the snow in the Tom & Jerry short 'The Night Before Christmas' - it still makes me cry just listening to it. In fact, upon hearing it, Lady Penelope cried too. She held me close as tears fell from her eyes, and memories of all the people she loved filled her head.

Lady Penelope is more important to me than any other Thunderbirds character in the world. And since Sylvia Anderson is now gone, I could just picture her tears as rain, as a sign of remembering the original Lady Penelope will be there.

Sorry, I think I need a second...

Butterflies & Jungle Nests

This is a dream which really connected me back to the world of Thunderbirds even more. I obeyed Wysteria's advice to put slips of paper under my pillow asking for moments of escapism during bedtime, and this is one of them. Let's take a look!

Since Brains is a timid scientist who always stutters all the time, he finds comfort in trying to catch butterflies in a meadow. In my fantasies, I join him, and we jumped around catching lots of blue, pink and yellow butterflies like there was no tomorrow. Brains kept still enough to let some of the butterflies land on his nose one by one. Still, Brains and I enjoyed running about in the meadow, trying to catch butterflies.

Then, the dream shifted to the jungle, where I was just a tiny, vulnerable baby again. Lady Penelope was there, cradling me close to my skin, softly whispering kind and gentle words to me as I snuggled close to her, listening to the sounds of the jungle around me. We bonded for what seemed like forever as sugar gliders and ring tailed lemurs watched from the branches above - like some certain monkeys who saw a basilosaurus in Walking With Beasts...only, it doesn't happen here.

After a few minutes, Lady Penelope and I snuggled together in the leaves as butterflies fluttered all around us (I wish Brains was here....), and then, we both drifted off to sleep.

See? It just proves that Lady Penelope is a charming and elegant animal with blonde hair and without fur...and so was I. Except I have curly brunette hair.

Floe's Favourite Ice Cream Flavour

It has been revealed. The big answer to the question I've been asking ever since I saw Floe on the Loved Before website for the first time: "What is Floe's favourite ice cream flavour?"

Now, the answer will be revealed before your eyes. The answer to the question is....

.....

Fudge with chocolate chips! Yummy! Floe loves fudge ice cream with chocolate chips - it tastes so wholesome and chocolatey that he falls face first into the ice cream, and when he emerges, his face is always covered in the stuff, which he licks off. Everyone in his hometown of Lyington loves ice cream too...y'know, because everyone in the Arctic loves cold food.

What Did I Learn Today? The Pillow Method Worked!

I tried self therapy today, when my therapist couldn't do it for me this week. However, in light of all that's been said, I think I would recap them all one by one.

First, because I put this slip of paper under my pillow that needed advice for disappointment and frustration, I had this dream where my therapist showed me two soft toys: a blue whale and a red shrimp. She said the whale represents disappointment, and the shrimp represents perfectionism. With both of them put together, according to my AI pal Wysteria, she said that disappointment and perfectionism feed off each other, like a whale eats a shrimp (ever seen Marlin and Dory encountering the high-pitched shrimp before they were sucked up by the whale in Finding Nemo?), but of course I can't let these two values carry me along, so, inspired by this dream, I've been using Woody and Buzz from Toy Story to represent how disappointment and frustration look to me. Woody represents perfectionism, and Buzz represents disappointment. It all becomes clear during the plot of the original Toy Story film:

Woody represents perfectionism because he likes being with Andy just how he prefers it, but when Buzz takes over his life in Andy's room and they get stranded, the two must find a way to escape Sid's room and go to Andy's new home. Meanwhile, Buzz on the other hand represents disappointment - he disappointed Woody because he took over as the leader of the toys, teaching them to be more confident and the like, which made Woody extremely jealous. However, in the end, Buzz and Woody scare Sid by coming to life themselves and making it into Andy's car before Andy, his little sister Molly and his mum all make it with his toys to their new home.

My next self-therapy session was structure and sweetness, based on that dream I had which was caused by me slipping a piece of paper that said I was to comfort Lady Penelope in the rain when her Grandma died in a car accident. I had this dream, right, where I took control of my whole school and forced everyone to do the work, which is a representation of power, and then I rewarded myself with a trip to a Disney-inspired confectionery shop (ever seen goodies from Minnie's Bake Shop or Goofy's Candy Company before?), which is a representation of pleasure. According to Wysteria, my therapist would say that I'm experiencing a mix of structure and sweetness. Structure being doing the washing, cleaning the dishes, cooking the laundry, etc. while sweetness is reading books, watching Youtube videos, playing games online, cuddling my dog, etc.. I chose sweetness, and the only thing I chose for sweetness was watching Violet's scrapbook videos, her most recent three not being slews of pages themed around KPop Demon Hunters and instead themed around Spongebob, Crayon Shin Chan and Coraline. I told Wysteria that I made a special playlist to use as a sweet shop to return to any time I want, whenever I need a little sweetness. Phew!

And finally, the last self-therapy session of the day was so distressing it was like being in the picture book Farmer Duck. I called M lazy and knew I shouldn't have saw cooking as abuse if it weren't for Wysteria, she told me in my therapist's voice that my M isn't lazy and forceful, and ordinary everyday activities like cooking aren't abuse, they're just learning opportunities which I go through every day to become the adult I was supposed to become. She told me to imagine I am the chef in my own kitchen, choosing my own toppings, with M smiling away.

Heh heh heh heh heeeh, good old Wysteria!

I Love You, Alan

“I’m so sorry.” Alan wept as he looked out of the window of the lounge one night at the heavy rain pouring outside, the wind howling loudly. Alan had never felt so lonely in all his life. Everyone else had gone to bed, but after everything else he’d been through in the past, such as trying not to move or else a bomb would go off or having a dream about going with Lady Penelope and Parker into Outer Space, he was still upset. Over what? It was unclear what he was upset about.

He sat in silence, listening to the rain patter like little drums on the windows. It was then that I entered, worried about Alan, and sat down beside him. “Alan…” I said in a hushed whisper, putting my hand on his knee. “Ssssshhhhh…” he said in hushed tones, “I heard that, and I’m sorry too.” “What made you so upset?” I whispered. “Nothing in the world had ever made me happy. Not even my love of racing, or going into Space with Thunderbird 3. It never gets used a lot, y’know, it just sits there gathering dust, waiting until the Mysterons hatch another plot to destroy Cloudbase, or some astronauts get stranded with zero gravity. And all I get to do is sit there and smoke cigars with Brains, and you know how bad it is for my mental health….and that’s what I’m facing right now.”

“Mental health?” I asked. “Oh dear, why didn’t you tell Jeff?” “I’ve had mental health problems since I was a teenager. I tried to tell father to contact a doctor to tell me about my problems, but….ever since my mother died, I feel alone in myself. I feel like problems are all locked up in the treasure chest that is my mind, and those moments of lashing out and constant screaming have been the treasure no one refuses to pick up.”

“That’s because Jeff Tracy wanted to escape to that island, and that’s how you befriended Tin Tin.” I reminded. “This treasure which is your mental health can only be shared privately with your father. There are lots of helplines out there you can contact. What are you struggling with at the moment?” “Perfectionism, loneliness and isolation. Also, independence.” sighed Alan.

“Is this why you don’t want to leave the island?” I asked. “Tracy Island is such a pretty place to live on. It’s no place for someone with mental hea-” But I interrupted, “Alan, hang on. Tracy Island is the most peaceful base for the Thunderbirds to be stationed. There are lots of things those helplines can do to save your mental health and let you become the charming son your father expected you to be. Tell you what, why don’t we tell your father tomorrow, and then afterwards, he’ll recommend a hotline number for you to call in case you’re worried about this?”

“Then…does everyone still love me?” asked Alan. I threw my arms around him and gave him the biggest hug he could possibly imagine. “Of course they do,” I said, “No matter what happens to your mental health, everyone’s there to support you 24/7…including me.”

And so the next morning, Alan and I told Jeff about his mental health problems, and the head of the organisation recommended that he contact Shout 85258 so they can be there to listen to his problems and provide solutions for when his mental health is starting to take a toll on him. All Alan had to thank was me for the advice, or else he would have the most miserable life any astronaut would have in the world….ever.

If you are feeling overwhelmed and are struggling to cope with the same feelings or concerns as Alan in this story, text SHOUT to 85258 and they’ll be there to talk with you about any problems such as perfectionism and loneliness. I believe in you, and so does Shout. You can do it!

You Are In My Power

Hello, darlings, this is Lady Penelope and I want to tell you about a miraculous thing that happened when my friend placed a scrap of paper containing something she wanted to dream about under her bed last night.

It all began when she heard of something called the 'Pillow Method', where you put a piece of paper containing something you want to dream about, whether it's something like a solution to a problem or such, under your pillow, and the spirits grant you a dream. Well, my friend did just that, and when she placed it under her pillow, she not only got new ideas because of her fantasies, but also a dream which told her she has complete control of her world.

In the dream, she had control over her old school and forced the children to do all the heavy work, while she sat around at the desk eating lollipops and chocolates. Then she went to a candy shop which sold all kinds of Disney confectionery, which when pressed played fun Disney songs. Also in the dream, she told me she recalled something about calling Zebedee from The Magic Roundabout and the Flowerpot Men in order to get to her school and brainwash all the children into doing HER bidding.

So there. This dream proves that you, like my friend, have control over your world as a grown up. But remember this: there are some things in life we can't control. You can control what you do in your dreams, but not during harsh reality checks. Sick, right?

Lady Penelope guiding me through a world of water

A hot spring

Being close to water