An intro since I'm writing this at 9 am:
Sometimes you just get down. Feel sad for yourself, annoyed with yourself, awkward with yourself. Sometimes you just can't stand your own skin and wish you could separate from yourself and get away. Yeah, well, if you don't feel like that, I do sometimes.
Anyway, how do you deal with such moments? Go for walks? Hunt for imaginary or mythic creatures? Dance naked or in your underwear to music? Cuddle with a teddy bear, pillow, that special someone, or your pet? When you're sad do you play sad songs?
I love this scene!
Or perhaps you prefer watching funny clips?
There are many ways to channel sadness, loneliness, or heartbreak. Grief, sorrow, and emptiness are feelings that you shouldn't run from. I take the view that you shouldn't try to escape how you feel. Trying to run from your feelings is like trying to escape from a falling anvil. It won't work. Or will it?
No, I'm afraid not. So instead of running from what you're feeling, feel them. Don't "turn it off" as suggested in the Book of Mormon Musical. Some emotions are pain. We all feel them. Feel them so deeply that it hurts and we wish they would stop. Eventually they subside and we feel like we can at last move on with our lives. Grief, in all its forms, isn't something you can truly run from. It's something you have to face. It isn't easy but that's because it's opposite emotion (Joy/Love/Companionship) is just as strong. If you ever wanted to advice from me (I know it's hard to want that from me), go for a walk and give yourself permission to feel grief, hate, anger, and sorrow.
The Declaration of Independence argues that men have the right to, among other things, the pursuit of happiness. That is a road that is filled with sorrow because in order to understand what truly makes us happy, we have to first understand what does not make us happy but instead makes us sad.
So go for a walk. Go for a run. Go for a swim. Listen to music. Sing to your favorite happy/sad songs. Dance like no one is watching or because they are watching. Scream. Yell. Cry. Sit quietly and just feel what you're feeling. Remember, also, that one day, you will feel happy again.
Or you'll end up like this:
I really like what you have to say here--and agree. There's something exceedingly healthy about learning to feel our emotions. Ironically, maybe the only way we'll get past some is when we stop running from them and just sit and experience them. You're great. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
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