Ah man. Thank you for this. It's beautifully written, as always. And relatable, as always. This is making me realize that I need to start thinking about things a little differently. I'm going to be honest, I haven't been in the best state of mind since the week or two before Christmas. For too many reasons to write here while also avoiding making this my longest comment ever, lol. I've been trying my best but my mental health is at a low point right now. I may start a journal, like yours, in which I can write something I'm grateful for every day. I've had this thought before, that I need to start cataloging the positives in my life. I may give it a try.
Sorry to hear you're struggling. I get that, sometimes it's just a lot of things that have been building up for a while. Really hope that things start to feel better soon. You've had so much going on recently!
The gratitude thing has really helped me, particularly when I feel this huge sense of sadness/trepidation about the state of the world, or if I start thinking too far ahead and worrying about things that might not happen. I'm much more attuned to notice the small things now. Like
today, both my kids were excitedly telling me about silly laws in other countries (thanks YouTube, lol) and the way they were both talking at once while jumping around really made me smile. When I'm down I get lost in my own thoughts, but the gratitude thing makes me wake up a bit, if that makes sense. Plus it doesn't take a lot of time. Committing to daily yoga or whatever isn't going to work for me because I won't stick to it, haha
Part of it is exhaustion from all the chaos of last year, and some that carried over into this year, but I know part of it is my perspective too. And that’s something I’d like to work to change. I’m glad to hear that it has worked so well for you. I think I’m going to shop for a journal on my days off this week and start right away.
Sometimes if I’m particularly stressed while working, or if I’m having a panic attack, to which I am unfortunately prone, my daughter will bring me one of her stuffed animals. Her thinking is that they make her feel happy and less afraid, so they will do the same for me. It’s an incredibly sweet thing that she’s done ever since she was very little. She did that today and I took a moment to really appreciate it. That’s the first thing I’m going to write down.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to more of your thoughts on ‘A Space for the Unbound’ at some point. I was already really interested in that game, and you’ve piqued my interest further!
That's so sweet of your daughter, it's made me well up a bit. Kids understand big emotions better than adults, I think. I really hope the journal helps. I'm sitting here with my coffee catching up with mine from yesterday.
I will definitely write more about A Space for the Unbound. I'm hoping to get a lot of my essay done today so I can spend more evenings this week playing it!
Ah man. Thank you for this. It's beautifully written, as always. And relatable, as always. This is making me realize that I need to start thinking about things a little differently. I'm going to be honest, I haven't been in the best state of mind since the week or two before Christmas. For too many reasons to write here while also avoiding making this my longest comment ever, lol. I've been trying my best but my mental health is at a low point right now. I may start a journal, like yours, in which I can write something I'm grateful for every day. I've had this thought before, that I need to start cataloging the positives in my life. I may give it a try.
Sorry to hear you're struggling. I get that, sometimes it's just a lot of things that have been building up for a while. Really hope that things start to feel better soon. You've had so much going on recently!
The gratitude thing has really helped me, particularly when I feel this huge sense of sadness/trepidation about the state of the world, or if I start thinking too far ahead and worrying about things that might not happen. I'm much more attuned to notice the small things now. Like
today, both my kids were excitedly telling me about silly laws in other countries (thanks YouTube, lol) and the way they were both talking at once while jumping around really made me smile. When I'm down I get lost in my own thoughts, but the gratitude thing makes me wake up a bit, if that makes sense. Plus it doesn't take a lot of time. Committing to daily yoga or whatever isn't going to work for me because I won't stick to it, haha
Part of it is exhaustion from all the chaos of last year, and some that carried over into this year, but I know part of it is my perspective too. And that’s something I’d like to work to change. I’m glad to hear that it has worked so well for you. I think I’m going to shop for a journal on my days off this week and start right away.
Sometimes if I’m particularly stressed while working, or if I’m having a panic attack, to which I am unfortunately prone, my daughter will bring me one of her stuffed animals. Her thinking is that they make her feel happy and less afraid, so they will do the same for me. It’s an incredibly sweet thing that she’s done ever since she was very little. She did that today and I took a moment to really appreciate it. That’s the first thing I’m going to write down.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to more of your thoughts on ‘A Space for the Unbound’ at some point. I was already really interested in that game, and you’ve piqued my interest further!
That's so sweet of your daughter, it's made me well up a bit. Kids understand big emotions better than adults, I think. I really hope the journal helps. I'm sitting here with my coffee catching up with mine from yesterday.
I will definitely write more about A Space for the Unbound. I'm hoping to get a lot of my essay done today so I can spend more evenings this week playing it!