Riding the highs and lows

“Allow for a quiet moment, and remind yourself why it will be alright.”

Tough stretch?

I could give you some practical tips that might help you feel better. But no.

You’re really in it this time. Nothing going on. Nothing to look forward to. Sure there are ways to be productive and force yourself out of paralyzing depression. But that’s just it. You know this, and yet you still choose to do nothing and sulk. Because well… fuck it.

So my advice is to continue doing nothing. Ride it out. Sit in the stink. Stir your own stew. Endure.

In this state you can become a passive observer. Thoughts and feelings will come and go around how you got here, what you need to do to get out, whether or not you can. Let them. Don’t fixate or spiral, but do pay attention and take note.

Also note that you have been here before and that you have come out the other end better for it. Also know that you will eventually take action and climb out. Not now. Perhaps tomorrow or the next day. You will. You’ll learn something new about yourself and your process, and you’ll make an adjustment that may work until the next time you hit a spell. Rinse and repeat.

By the way, the same goes for trips on the other end of the spectrum, when you’re jacked up on dopamine and riding the highs of extreme elation. Not much to do there either, and it also won’t last. Still, you can sit in the joy - observe it, feel it until the great, inevitable crash.

No sense in trying to avoid highs or lows, or in trying to prolong the highs and shorten the duration of the lows. Over time, you’ll want to just work on making trips to each end less extreme. No spikes of tidal waves and the fallout from them. Just mellow waves up and down that you can balance on top of like a surfer dude.

This is a lifelong balancing act. You’ll get better and better at managing the highs and lows that come with this experience.

So next time you’re feeling down - good. Soak it in. Ride the wave. Work on becoming a cool surfer dude.

It’s going to be fine.

Love to all -

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Related Poetry

Trying to turn things around

From Fire & Earth: A ThoughPose Poetry Collection | 9/4/2019

When your dreams are chasing you
And luck says, “Break a leg.”
So you literally do

When you’re what alot is going through
And your wish to stop wishing
Doesn’t come true

When even the grays are feeling blue
And it feels like time flies,
Only after it flew

When you’re the shit that it happens to
And what you’ve always thought
You never quite knew

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Depression is a beautiful, wondrous snowstorm

Feeling down?

Anyone capable of reading this has dealt with depression in some way. If you’re looking for formal statistics, it’s estimated that 300 million worldwide experience depression. Informally, it’s probably safe to assume that 100% of adults have had at least one difficult period in life they’ve been forced to endure.

It can be triggered in a number of ways, come in varying degrees of intensity and last for days, weeks, even years at a time. That is to say, each “episode” of depression may hit different.

How should you “deal” with depression?

Of course, there are multiple ways to manage depression and each individual may have their own process for doing so. Some may utilize prescribed medicine, mental and/or physical exercise, creative outlets, hobbies, therapy, support from loved ones or a combination of the above. Yet only 20% of depressives treat symptoms consistently, and 35% don’t bother treating them at all.

Why don’t they? A more interesting question: Should they?

This is not to argue that depression should be left untreated, or left to the individual to treat themselves. But for those who choose to hunker down and endure their depressive episodes, there may be great value in this exercise. Let’s metaphorically explore this idea for a moment.

Depression is a snowstorm

Maybe depression is in your nature as a cognitive being, just as a snowstorm is part of the Earth’s nature.

Sure, on paper it sounds nice to have each day be sunny, windless and warm. But it’s impossible for nature to provide such consistent weather, as there are so many elements at work. And so the Earth rotates and revolves farther from the Sun each year, and its ecosystem builds pressure over the course of its external travels and as interior stimulations are inflicted - that pressure must inevitably be released.

What can you do to prevent a snowstorm from coming?

Nothing.

What can you do to prepare for the storm, when the signs point to one coming?

Plenty (see above).

What can you do during the storm, to endure and appreciate its natural course, and embrace it as a positive component of your cognitive process?

Be observant, appreciate the course of its nature, reflect on the beauty of snowfall and how it comes to be, and…

Let it pass

So next time you feel a storm coming, prepare to experience it in a new way. May the words here (including the more poetic ones below) help you gain new perspective on the nature of depression - you may be surprised at how wonderful and insightful it can be.

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Snowstorm

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It feels like a storm’s coming

The wind picks up, starts carrying

HEAVIER things

The sky… it’s cowering like an

Empty canvas left untouched for

Toooo Longggg… but still, ready

While the clouds - they move slow,

Methodical to grow in size,

Gather in numbers

And gain in strength

They procure pressure only to

Release it all.

Maybe you’ve been looking down,

Missing its many signs

It’s so cold, maybe you’re sheltered inside

And won’t even bother going out

Until it passes

Or do you anticipate this,

To embrace the storm

Knowing you can’t control the weather -

Is it in your nature?

Because if you could -

Sit on a hill huddled with

Things to keep you warm

Watch the snowflakes fall,

Listen to their gentle patters

As they accumulate just like

They did as clouds

Let the storm’s air touch your skin, and

Breathe new life into you

Experience the storm for what it is -

Oh, you would be so alright

At peace in your own elements

In awe of these every day wonders