I’m a little bit of a worrywort. Truth be told, I need to keep myself busy or I tend to drive myself batshit crazy. This can create an unhealthy imbalance of life, love, and work which occasionally puts me into a funk.
So how do I get out of it? I’m glad you asked.
When the funk fairy pays me a visit, instead of pretending that I’m not home and everything is fine, I greet her warmly, make her take her shoes off, and invite her in for tea.
You might think that’s a counterproductive way of dealing with the doldrums, but what I’ve found is that I can’t fight feeling down by just pretending I’m not. The more I cover it up, the worse it’s going to get.
Don’t look it in the eye, they say, cos the abyss will stare right back, take possession of your soul, and rip you to shreds…
Inviting the sads or the bads in on my terms gives me a sense of control over what I feel and for how long I choose to feel it. And while this doesn’t work for everyone, having an expiration date on my mood works for me.
Imagine giving yourself permission to feel your feels and succumb to the mood without being completely overwhelmed and thrown into the abyss. Imagine saying to yourself:
“Right, you have 36 minutes to get punched in the face and cry like a little bitch, then you have to pick yourself up and get back in the ring cos this fight isn’t going to win itself.”
A lot of people are content ignoring their feelings. Don’t look it in the eye, they say, cos the abyss will stare right back, take possession of your soul, and rip you to shreds. That sounds legit, not gonna lie.
But I find that whether I look or not, the gaping maw is still the same distance away and can swallow me whole, even if I’m blindfolded! So I look. I smile. I wave. And I invite it in. And then I turn around and say:
“Do your worst, but you’re on the clock. Ain’t nobody got time for this bullshit, so you can do your worst cos I know you won’t go away if I ask nicely, but I have places to be.”
And I find that its worst isn’t so bad after all. In fact, with my imagination, I could probably give it lessons on how to drag me by the hair, kicking and screaming, to the depths of despair…but I won’t.