The original post by Natalie the Singingfool can be found at How to Feel Better When You Just Want to Punch Life in the Kidneys
This week sucked. No, my kitty didn’t die, I didn’t lose my job, nor did I catch any new exotic illnesses this week (yet). Without going into extraneous detail, I just don’t like dealing with icky stuff from the past, and that’s what this week was all about, apparently. Ick.
Sometimes life just sucks and doesn’t hand you a tidy explanation. I may not have completely grown up, but I do know that much. Take that, public school education!
To combat this inevitable suckiness that life throws in everyone’s way now and again, I tried a few home remedies to bolster my mood. I make it my business to proactively fight depression, and not let it smother me like peanut butter over chocolate. Yum. That sounded more delicious than I had intended…
ANYWAY.
How I fought the depression chicken this week:
- Dressed up a little. I’ve been frumpy-mcfrumperfrump for the past few months (see here), so no wonder I feel like a schlog. Yesterday I actually wore a skirt and some wedges, and I hate to be this way, but…I felt better because I knew I looked better. Not that this means I’m giving up the yoga pants just yet…
- Wore a favorite scent. This one has worked the best so far at cheering my disposition. Smell is a powerful tool for accessing memory; just look at how a whiff of CK One takes me right back to 1995, when all the kids at school were spritzing that poison like it was a drug they were trying to inhale before homeroom. This morning I rubbed on the lotion that I keep in an emergency stash and ration because it’s discontinued. I wore this scent in France seven years ago, and it is a guaranteed pick-me-up because it brings back all those memories of laying on Mediterranean beaches and eating gelato for every meal. This memory alone is worth living for another day. I seriously don’t know what I’m going to do when that bottle is finally empty.
- Asked for advice. I took to Twitter and requested some ways to brighten my day from the masses, and actually got some valuable responses. Someone messaged me a funny auto correct fail, another person suggested their favorite brand of ice cream, somebody else gave me a funny mental image to ponder, and yet another person told me to have a glass of wine. Don’t worry, I took that last one to mean “Get your ass to an AA meeting, alcoholics don’t get to drink wine unless they’re Ernest Hemingway, and he’s dead.”
- Read something of no redeeming value whatsoever. Yes readers, I read a Nicholas Sparks novel this week. It took like an hour, it was terrible, but it made me feel better. Don’t judge me. We all have secret uncool behaviors, I’m just admitting to mine. Also, don’t worry, I’m reading A Passage to India in tandem – they cancel each other out.
- Exercised. I went to Zumba and busted my terrible, off-rhythm moves, got all sweaty, and left some of my bad vibes on the dance floor.
- Stopped checking my stats. Yes, it gives me an idea of how this blog is doing, but the bad mood it puts me in is not worth it. I’ve vowed to just be myself on here and do what I love, and if I’m constantly obsessing over my numbers (or lack thereof), I cannot focus on what’s important. What’s important, obviously, being writing, writing, writing…and the occasional painting. I swear, I will get a painting on here in the foreseeable future…
- Pet therapy. Do I need to explain this? Sometimes just spending QT with those who worship you makes you feel better.
Could she BE any more adorable? The answer is no.
Linking up with Yeah Write’s weekend Moonshine Grid. Come hang out with the cool kids…and me.
