Maybe it feels like it’s been said, but it could always bear repeating for folks who need it.
* The blues can just be the blues, but depression is chemical, and there’s no way to just “make yourself” snap out of it. There are multiple treatments so don’t give up if you tried one and it didn’t work – someone who knows what they’re doing can help you and it will be worth it.
* Change your clothes. Change your underwear. It is tempting to wear the comfy-pants every day, I know, but wash them, wear fresh socks, gets bins for dirty clothes and put the clean ones somewhere off the floor if you’re not ready to fold them.
* Brush your teeth. Wash and brush your hair. You will feel better after a shower and a little grooming.
* Routine is important for your body. Healthy body will help you with a healthy mind. If your bod has no idea when it’s going to sleep or when it’s getting its next meal, damn right it’s going to be anxious and sad. Try going to bed around the same time, get 8 hours, avoid sleeping in crazy patterns.
* Eat. If you’re bummed and you don’t know why, ask yourself when you slept, when you ate last, when you had something green that was a plant. Eat as regularly as you can and try to avoid junk. If fresh vegetables are hard to keep in the house, buy veggie juice, that Green Machine stuff is delicious. Your mind will react to your bod getting nutrients.
* A concept I’ll never forget is mise en place, a restaurant term, meaning everything in its place. You set your shit up in your station and no matter how fast you’re working or what other people are doing around you, you keep your station clean. Messy station, messy brain. It is easy when you’re blue to let your place get all junked up, piles of trash and laundry and mail – take it piece by piece and clean. Start by making your bed every day and branch out from there. Mise en place, clean your life, unfuck your habitat, and your brain will thank you for it.
* Just because everyone has problems doesn’t mean your problems are not valid. Don’t fall into the guilt trap. Be honest with yourself.
* Yes, you are tired and yes, you feel like shit. That means you need to be patient with yourself and it means you are allowed to be proud of yourself when you accomplish things. That does not mean you are allowed to stop moving forward. Baby steps, not zero steps. Maybe you can’t change the busted lightbulb today, but you can unscrew it today. Tomorrow, write down what number it says so you can look it up at the store the next day. Keep moving forward. You are allowed to be patient with yourself, but pushing forward is important.
* Talk to humans. When you’re ready. There are a lot of us here and we like you.
