As I mentioned yesterday, Supernatural is my go-to for mindless background, white-noise when I want sound, but not anything to concentrate on.
I’m reminded of this more this week as Supernatural celebrates its 20th anniversary and I celebrate just over a decade in recovery through depression and anxiety. Mental health wellness is a continuum rather than a cure, and having our coping tools to help us through the rough patches is one of the keys.
On Saturday, the fandom celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the premiere of Supernatural. The show ended its run five years ago, and its popularity has only grown with meet & greets, conventions, and the fans following the actors on to new projects, continuing to buy the merch and donating to worthy causes through Stands and Random Acts!
I had toyed with the idea of posting a reflection on Saturday, the day of the anniversary, but I also thought I would actually approach the anniversary the way I approached my watching of the original series: late.
I did not come to the fandom when it premiered in 2005, but during its hiatus on its way to the second half of its seventh season. I had a lot of catching up to do, and I made it, just barely when the show returned with the second half, and I’ve been with them ever since.
I brought my teenage daughter along for the ride and that has also been an exciting dimension to this fandom as well.
I’ve written before how I’ve never been big on horror, and Supernatural felt like horror, so I avoided it. Luckily for me, my friend wrote up a trigger list for each episode so I could go in with my eyes open and make the choices as I went along. I’ve seen every episode except Bugs and I don’t plan on seeing that one even now.
I was also in the middle of a new diagnosis of severe depression, and Supernatural was really one of the things that kept me in a solid place as we adjusted medication, found a therapist, and began writing as therapy. Supernatural was a big part of that recovery, and continued to be a go-to when I need something in the background to keep my mind still. I’ll talk more about this later today when I publish today’s Mental Health Monday, coming this afternoon.
The Pilot episode gives a good introduction to the characters and their journey; however, my first episode was The French Mistake with breaks all of the fourth walls, and really pulled me into the fandom before it pulled me into the series. If you’re already familiar with the actors and their characters, The French Mistake is a fun episode that still moves the story forward.
So, happy birthday Supernatural! Twenty years since the premiere is a milestone, as is the fifteen years on the air! Let’s go: we’ve got work to do.
Last week, I mentioned in my list to put together your mental health toolbox. Each tool will be different for each person. We may use the same techniques sometimes, but we may not use them for the same reasons. One of the reasons I like to share how I cope is to show how much it changes from when the tool is needed.
First, here is the link to a previous post about Coping Skills and a Toolbox: Coping Skills Toolbox. I found this on Tumblr many years ago, and have found it to be a great resource on its own as well as foundational for my own added tools.
Second, this is a graphic from my friend’s facebook:
(c)2025
There are so many ways we can rest, and so many different ways we need to rest that it’s important to have that reminder. I know I often think I’m tired, but my rest isn’t helpful. Perhaps, I’m focusing on the wrong rest.
Third, my old standby is watching Supernatural. Supernatural came into my life at a time of heavy crisis, and it is a comfort show for me. What is your one comfort that you can always return to?
Share any tools that work for you, so we can help each other through the big and little events that turn us upside down and around.
What about settlement money? What if we call it reparations?
Ashlii Babbitt was a traitor. Full stop. No question. She was killed after she didn’t comply with officers’ instructions to stand down while breaking into the Capitol building. She was attempting to overthrow the government, and she (and her fellow traitors) nearly succeeded.
In the video of her death, she pauses at the broken window, then proceeds to go through. She briefly hesitated, and then followed through on her attempts at overthrow. She knew exactly what she was doing, and after the warnings, she knew the risks.
Was she an Air Force veteran? In her past, yes. But at the time of her death, she was an insurrectionist. She was trying to stop the legitimate certification of our elections. She was impeding the work of the government. Had she lived, she’d be in jail after her arrest and due process.
She absolutely does NOT deserve reburial with full military honors any more than Nathan Bedford Forrest, Robert E. Lee, or Benedict Arnold deserves it. Let her family bury her with respect; that’s their job.
A $5 million handout to her family for her death is outrageous! Where is the compensation for the families of the Capitol police who died that day?!
I could go on with a rant, but there isn’t anything else to say – traitors do not deserve compensation. It goes against everything this country used to stand for, and should stand for.
Does anyone remember those popular souvenir shop t-shirts? My parents went to Florida, South of the Border, Gettysburg, and all I got was this lousy* t-shirt? My husband said no one would remember them, but I remember them. I think we all got one at one point, but they are long in the bin of history.
As I’ve written last week, I had to have surgery on my achilles tendon, so our vacation was cancelled; however, we sent our kids for half of the vacation since there was a “comic” convention, Fan Expo Canada. The three of them had never gone away alone together, and they all came back in one piece, and hopefully with stronger relationships than when they left. I had concerns about crossing the border, but I grew up going to Canada all my life, and I feel that they are an extension of New York and vice versa.
I thought for this month’s inspiration, I would share a few collages of some of the things my kids brought back for me. Some were requested (the clothes and stationery items) and others were surprises, especially Niagara Falls. (*Nothing in here represents anything lousy!)
[I’m checking out a new book of writing prompts. To be honest, I usually find these unhelpful because, as a writer, I can usually write my own prompts, but in previewing this book, I like how it’s set up, and thought I’d share a few of them with you over the next few weeks.]
Brainstorm ways characters could be confined in a space together (stuck on an island, in an airplane, in a stopped elevator, etc.). Choose one. Decide which characters are in the space.
Continue the Story Write a scene in which they are in conflict.
[Note: Exercising my right of personal preference: By the time this prompt posts, I will be almost three weeks post-op from my torn Achilles tendon repair surgery, which means for the last three weeks, I’ve been more or less in bed, staring at my family who has been helping me, which is kind of like being confined in a space together since my bed was moved to the first floor, etc., so I might be writing about this experience. Time will tell, as you’re reading this in the future from my writing it in the past. Have a good week. Welcome (soon) Fall, but not literally, let’s just say Welcome Autumn.]
Graham Greene has been a favorite of mine for a very long time. It may hit a bit harder today because of my research into St. Kateri Tekakwitha, a fellow member of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, although she was Mohawk (and Algonquin) and he was Oneida.
[I’m checking out a new book of writing prompts. To be honest, I usually find these unhelpful because, as a writer, I can usually write my own prompts, but in previewing this book, I like how it’s set up, and thought I’d share a few of them with you over the next few weeks.]
Griffins and Ginger Snaps 