iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Tomorrow (Wednesday) on our blog Fran and I celebrate the 10TH ANNIVERSARY of our book HIGH TIDE, LOW TIDE: THE CARING FRIEND'S GUIDE TO BIPOLAR DISORDER. In the meantime, here's how it came to be written: www.gumonmyshoe.com/2022/04/i-wa...

gumonmyshoe.com

I Want to Write: How Our Book HIGH TIDE LOW TIDE Came to Be Written

No one is too far away to be cared for or to care. Inspiring those who support a friend living with mental illness.

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Today's a great day to follow our blog. One new post every Wednesday on mental health and supportive friendships. GUM ON MY SHOE follow.it/gum-on-my-sh...

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Gum on My Shoe

News from https://www.gumonmyshoe.com/

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Tomorrow on our blog we have a new Q&A post exploring why I find Q&As so difficult to answer 🤔🤣 In the meantime, here's another look at Decluttering for Mental Health and Wellbeing. www.gumonmyshoe.com/2026/04/you-... #decluttering #wombles #tidying #hoarding

gumonmyshoe.com

You Can't Have Everything: Decluttering for Mental Health and Wellbeing

No one is too far away to be cared for or to care. Inspiring those who support a friend living with mental illness.

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

#MondayBlogs You Are a King (or Queen) in Your Own Kingdom Your inner world is your own private kingdom. Your thoughts, memories, and feelings. Your stories. [...] They are not just yours they are you. www.gumonmyshoe.com/2026/09/you-... #EndOfLifePlanning #life #stories #fiction

gumonmyshoe.com

You Are a King (or Queen) in Your Own Kingdom

No one is too far away to be cared for or to care. Inspiring those who support a friend living with mental illness.

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

[new] You Are a King (or Queen) in Your Own Kingdom Your inner world is your own private kingdom. Your thoughts, memories, and feelings. Your stories. [...] They are not just yours they are you. www.gumonmyshoe.com/2026/09/you-... #EndOfLifePlanning #life #stories #fiction

gumonmyshoe.com

You Are a King (or Queen) in Your Own Kingdom

No one is too far away to be cared for or to care. Inspiring those who support a friend living with mental illness.

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

“sometimes I stand up and walk | sometimes I fall over | but inside....... | I’m still dancing” — Pamela Jane Thacker

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

TW: Mention of suicide and suicidality Our Minds Aren't Always Our Best Friend: Changing the Stories We Tell Ourselves "Our minds aren’t always our best friend. That’s why we have each other." www.gumonmyshoe.com/2026/09/our-... #WorldSuicidePreventionDay #MondayBlogs

gumonmyshoe.com

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Does your friend with bipolar disorder? Do you know how to help? We wrote HIGH TIDE LOW TIDE: The Caring Friend's Guide to Bipolar Disorder for you and those you care about. MyBook.to/HighTideLowTide #WorldSuicidePreventionDay #suicidePrevention #suicideAwareness

mybook.to

High Tide, Low Tide: The Caring Friend's Guide to Bipolar Disorder (Revised edition)

Read it now

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

TW: Mention of suicide and suicidality Tomorrow (Thursday) on our blog we have a new post for #WorldSuicidePreventionDay — The View from Base Camp. In the meantime, here's another look at Breaking the Silence: Talking About Suicide to Create Hope. www.gumonmyshoe.com/2023/09/brea...

gumonmyshoe.com

Breaking the Silence: Talking About Suicide to Create Hope

No one is too far away to be cared for or to care. Inspiring those who support a friend living with mental illness.

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

TW: Mention of suicide and suicidality [new] Our Minds Aren't Always Our Best Friend: Changing the Stories We Tell Ourselves “Our minds aren’t always our best friend. That’s why we have each other.” www.gumonmyshoe.com/2026/09/our-... #WorldSuicidePreventionDay

gumonmyshoe.com

Our Minds Aren't Always Our Best Friend: Changing the Stories We Tell Ourselves

No one is too far away to be cared for or to care. Inspiring those who support a friend living with mental illness.

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Tomorrow on our blog we have a new post ahead of #WorldSuicidePreventionDay — Our Minds Aren't Always Our Best Friend: Changing the Stories We Tell Ourselves In the meantime here's Use Your Words: Exploring the Power of Narrative for World Suicide Prevention Day www.gumonmyshoe.com/2025/09/use-...

gumonmyshoe.com

Use Your Words: Exploring the Power of Narrative for World Suicide Prevention Day

No one is too far away to be cared for or to care. Inspiring those who support a friend living with mental illness.

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

TW: Mention of suicide and suicidality Sharing ahead of #WorldSuicidePreventionDay on Thursday September 10 How Are You, Really? Eight Things I've Learned About Suicidality and Self-Harm www.gumonmyshoe.com/2023/06/how-... #MondayBlogs #WSPD

gumonmyshoe.com

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Today's a great day to subscribe to our blog. One new post every Wednesday on mental health and supportive friendships. GUM ON MY SHOE follow.it/gum-on-my-sh...

follow.it

Gum on My Shoe

News from https://www.gumonmyshoe.com/

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Does your friend live with bipolar disorder? Do you know how to help? We wrote HIGH TIDE LOW TIDE: The Caring Friend's Guide to Bipolar Disorder for you both. mybook.to/HighTideLowT... #friendship #bipolar #mentalhealth #suicidePreventionMonth #suicideAwareness

mybook.to

High Tide, Low Tide: The Caring Friend's Guide to Bipolar Disorder (Revised edition)

Read it now

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Tomorrow (Wednesday) on our blog we're showcasing our most visited blog posts of the past month. In the meantime, here's another look at How to Make Mistakes and Live Creatively. www.gumonmyshoe.com/2025/12/to-t...

gumonmyshoe.com

To Tink or to Frog? How to Make Mistakes and Live Creatively

No one is too far away to be cared for or to care. Inspiring those who support a friend living with mental illness.

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

#MondayBlogs The Impact Pet Bereavement Content Can Have on Mental Health, a guest post by Aimee, Project Lead for Gracie's Way, for National Grief Awareness Day www.gumonmyshoe.com/2026/08/the-... #grief #petBereavement

gumonmyshoe.com

The Impact Pet Bereavement Content Can Have on Mental Health

No one is too far away to be cared for or to care. Inspiring those who support a friend living with mental illness.

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

[new] The Impact Pet Bereavement Content Can Have on Mental Health, a guest post by Aimee, Project Lead for Gracie's Way, for National Grief Awareness Day www.gumonmyshoe.com/2026/08/the-... #grief #griefAwarenessDay #bereavement

gumonmyshoe.com

The Impact Pet Bereavement Content Can Have on Mental Health

No one is too far away to be cared for or to care. Inspiring those who support a friend living with mental illness.

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Tomorrow (Sun) on our blog we have a new guest post by the Project Lead for Gracie's Way on the impact pet bereavement content can have on mental health. In the meantime here's another look at 3 Things a Little Dog Taught Me About Depression. www.gumonmyshoe.com/2026/06/cani... #GriefAwareness

gumonmyshoe.com

Canine Therapy: Three Things a Little Dog Taught Me About Depression

No one is too far away to be cared for or to care. Inspiring those who support a friend living with mental illness.

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Tomorrow (Wednesday) on our blog I'm sharing a new post about grieving gently, ahead of Grief Awareness Day (Aug 30). In the meantime, here's another look at How Sad the Song: An Atheist Ponders His Mortality. www.gumonmyshoe.com/2025/06/how-... #death #atheism #life #griefAwarenessDay

gumonmyshoe.com

How Sad the Song: An Atheist Ponders His Mortality

No one is too far away to be cared for or to care. Inspiring those who support a friend living with mental illness.

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Reposted by Martin Baker

A Chronic Voice @achronicvoice.com · 25/08/2026

"The #grief for my former body remains, along with days when the #unfairness of it all feels esp heavy..But slowly, I’m learning that my #body isn’t my enemy. It isn’t lying..It’s speaking in a language I’m still learning to understand.": buff.ly/uPmfLCe by @serenebutterfly.bsky.social #ChronicPain

buff.ly

Dynamic Disability: The Truth About Life in an Unpredictable Body –

A personal journey of living with a dynamic disability, navigating mobility aids, imposter syndrome, and finding resilience in daily life.

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Reposted by Martin Baker

Judy L Mohr @judylmohr.com · 17/08/2026

One of my most powerful editorial tools in my #WritersToolbox is the Backwards Edit, where you read your manuscript from the last sentence backwards through to the first sentence. It forces you to focus on the words and not the story. #MondayBlogs #WritingCommunity

judylmohr.com

The Backwords Edit

During a backwards edit, you read a manuscript from the last sentence backwards to the first. As a consequence you focus entirely on the words.

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Reposted by Martin Baker

A Chronic Voice @achronicvoice.com · 24/08/2026

"In their final hours, people..regret their persistent #traits – the grudges they harboured [etc]..this recognition points to a..dimension of regret: we don’t just #regret what we did, we regret who we allowed ourselves to become.": buff.ly/XtWBbtW via @psyche.co #humanity #LifeLessons #regrets

buff.ly

Your deepest regrets help you see yourself more clearly | Psyche Ideas

Far from being a waste of time, the regrets that haunt you reveal more about who you are than your successes ever could

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Tomorrow (Wed) on our blog I'll be sharing some of the things that inspire me to write a new blog post every week. In the meantime, here's another look at walking on the beach with friends. "I need the sea because it teaches me." — Pablo Neruda www.gumonmyshoe.com/2024/11/toge...

gumonmyshoe.com

Togetherness Apart: Walking on the Beach With Friends

No one is too far away to be cared for or to care. Inspiring those who support a friend living with mental illness.

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

[new] Don't Ask Me If I'm Happy "Happy? Why does everyone have to be happy all the time?" — Doc Martin, S6E7 www.gumonmyshoe.com/2026/08/dont...

gumonmyshoe.com

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Tomorrow on our blog I'm sharing what happiness means to me, for #HappinessHappensMonth. In the meantime here's something that definitely DIDN'T make me happy! www.gumonmyshoe.com/2025/10/mise... #holidayFromHell

gumonmyshoe.com

Miserable Places: My Welsh Nightmare

No one is too far away to be cared for or to care. Inspiring those who support a friend living with mental illness.

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Today's a great day to subscribe to our blog. One new post every Wednesday on mental health and supportive friendships. GUM ON MY SHOE follow.it/gum-on-my-sh...

follow.it

Gum on My Shoe

News from https://www.gumonmyshoe.com/

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Today's a great day to subscribe to our blog. One new post every Wednesday on mental health and supportive friendships. GUM ON MY SHOE follow.it/gum-on-my-sh...

follow.it

Gum on My Shoe

News from https://www.gumonmyshoe.com/

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

This post is proving extraordinarily popular. Have you read it yet? On the Pursuit of Happiness: Thoughts and Hopes for Happiness Happens Month www.gumonmyshoe.com/2026/08/on-p... #happy #HappinessHappensMonth

gumonmyshoe.com

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

[new] On the Pursuit of Happiness: Thoughts and Hopes for Happiness Happens Month Many thanks to everyone who contributed to this one! What does happiness mean to you? www.gumonmyshoe.com/2026/08/on-p... #happy #HappinessHappensMonth

gumonmyshoe.com

On the Pursuit of Happiness: Thoughts and Hopes for Happiness Happens Month

No one is too far away to be cared for or to care. Inspiring those who support a friend living with mental illness.

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Tomorrow (Wednesday) on our blog we have a new post: Thoughts and Hopes for Happiness Happens Month. In the meantime, here's another look at something that makes me happy — chocolate! www.gumonmyshoe.com/2025/09/firs...

gumonmyshoe.com

First Munchie / Last Rolo: Little (Chocolate) Things Mean a Lot

No one is too far away to be cared for or to care. Inspiring those who support a friend living with mental illness.

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

#MondayBlogs Rip It Up and Start Again: A Blogger’s Guide to Disappointment "I think I just decided to scrap the blog post I’ve been writing ..." We've all been there. Something you've been working on doesn't work out. How do you handle it? www.gumonmyshoe.com/2026/07/rip-...

gumonmyshoe.com

Rip It Up and Start Again: A Blogger’s Guide to Disappointment

No one is too far away to be cared for or to care. Inspiring those who support a friend living with mental illness.

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

[new] Our Top Blog Posts of the Month (July 2026) www.gumonmyshoe.com/2026/08/our-... Photo by Martin Baker of Haverthwaite railway station café, Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway, Cumbria, UK.

gumonmyshoe.com

Our Top Posts of the Month (July 2026)

No one is too far away to be cared for or to care. Inspiring those who support a friend living with mental illness.

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Do you live with bipolar disorder? Do your friends know how to help? We wrote HIGH TIDE LOW TIDE: The Caring Friend's Guide to Bipolar Disorder for you and your friends! MyBook.to/HighTideLowT... #friendship #bipolar #mentalhealth

mybook.to

High Tide, Low Tide: The Caring Friend's Guide to Bipolar Disorder (Revised edition)

Read it now

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Martin Baker @martinbaker.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

[new] Rip It Up and Start Again: A Blogger’s Guide to Disappointment "I think I just decided to scrap the blog post I’ve been writing ..." We've all been there. Something you've been working on doesn't work out. How do you handle it? www.gumonmyshoe.com/2026/07/rip-...

gumonmyshoe.com

Rip It Up and Start Again: A Blogger’s Guide to Disappointment

No one is too far away to be cared for or to care. Inspiring those who support a friend living with mental illness.

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