from there to here

You might be wondering how I got from there to here. I’m still a bit tired, but my mood is good and I was even able to get the big job of poodle haircuts done. It isn’t easy but I’ve learned a few tricks over the years

Sometimes all I need are several days of quiet rest. It always helps to let myself off the hook. I allow myself to take some time off and stop the cycle of self loathing and blame for not getting things done. I give myself permission to sleep in and be lazy. It’s what my brain needs sometimes!

The other important thing is to remember to enjoy the idle pleasures in life. I can’t be negative when I’m enjoying the sound of the wind ruffling the leaves in the trees. Who can be depressed when feeling the heavy blossom of a peony? Every minute that I can be mindful is a minute of not being depressed.

Taking the right medications can make all the difference in the world. I think sometimes that I would be lost without help for fixing the chemical imbalance in my brain.

Contact with family and friends always helps, if even for a moment.

Sometimes it is hard work, and sometimes my mood is too deep for anything to help but even at my darkest moment something keeps me from giving up.

This afternoon I even had a few of what I call ‘Peaceful Easy Feeling’  moments (or pef for short).

“And when at last you find someone to whom you feel you can pour out your soul, you stop in shock at the words you utter— they are so rusty, so ugly, so meaningless and feeble from being kept in the small cramped dark inside you so long.”
~Sylvia Plath