Feeling a bit down tonight. How do you guys like to lighten up?
Completely stop for 2 minutes.
Listen to music.
Walk.
Also it helps me to go into the sadness. Like basically accept that I’m sad and that this is what I’ll experience for a while. It’s the rejection of it that makes it unbearable. And then I can listen to it and process and that’ll speed things up.
Slow is smooth and smooth is fast :)
It might be kind of late for this depending on where you live, but I go for a long walk. I find if I go for like an hour to an hour and a half I usually feel much better. Sometimes I can’t remember what I was sad about to begin with afterwards lol
“If you are in a bad mood go for a walk. If you are still in a bad mood go for another walk.” - Hippocrates
Watching a comfort show. (e.g.: Corner Gas)
Playing a comfort game (e.g.: A Short Hike)
Cuddling with cat.
Running a bath.
Reading a book.
Cleaning the house, or something similar.
Getting out of the house and/or volunteering.
Reminding myself that it’s okay to not be okay.A short hike is such a lovely game!
My grandpa grew up in the corner gas town lol
My grandpa grew up in the corner gas town lol
Pet my cats and listen to cheerful song
I go for a walk and to bed early.
Happy cartoons!
I’m sure you’ve heard of Bluey by now. Its so good, wholesome, and heartfelt. Everyone’s watching, regardless of age.
Here’s one of my favorites for happy feels: Kipper the Dog
Its a Pre-K show that’s just super chill and pleasant. Feels like a warm blanket and cocoa. This one is definitely more for children, but its ok to indulge your inner child and tell it that things are okay.For a more sophisticated palette, Hilda is the most criminally underrated animated mainstream cartoon in recent memory… that somehow got a full run regardless!
Three seasons and a movie on Netflix. Its beautiful and kid appropriate but definitely for all ages, and pretty damn serious a lot of the time. But its still rather uplifting in how a lot of things aren’t problems, because Hilda is so spirited and determined in a way you can truly believe in.My little Pony, new and old, really does the trick for me, but its not for everyone, of course. Pound Puppies and A Pup Named Scooby Doo also hit that vibe, though of the old shows mentioned, its probably the best written. (Never got into Care Bears, but it could probably work too, if you’re looking for Sunshine and Rainbows)
I raise to you: Ladybug.
I fully acknowledge that it isn’t healthy but I drink or smoke weed. Playing with my dog and going on walks helps a lot too. Videogames when I have the attention span to play them is good too
Make something. Doesn’t matter what. Write something, draw something, bake something, make noises with an instrument (even if you don’t know how to play it), sculpt some clay, cut some wood, anything. Play Minecraft even.
And don’t feel like you’re forcing yourself to do something, just give yourself a way to physically express how you’re feeling. You don’t have create something useful, you don’t have to show what you made to anyone, it’s about the process and it’s just for you.
I honestly believe humans have evolved an innate drive to create things, to see the physical world around them respond to their actions, even if they’re pointless. And I believe that when you don’t do this you will feel like something is missing.
Getting some sleep (sober). I’ve learned that the world seems harsher when I’m tired. After a night or two of good sleep, things feel less of an issue.
I usually refer to this helpful diagram
I put googly eyes on things.
The advantage of this is it keeps paying off even years later.
We put googly eyes on an oscillating fan (among many other things) at the beginning of the pandemic and they still make me giggle every time I see them.
One time,
at band campin college, for April Fool’s, someone placed a Ton of sheets of adhesive googly eyes on the bulletin boards around campus.They didn’t stick them on anything, they just made a bunch of little slips of eyes available and let the magic happen.
I feel like a piece of shit who’s worthless and just makes life worse for everyone around me.
Can somebody please help me to feel better? :'(
When I feel like that, it tends to be projection. I’m making myself sad and making my own life more difficult, not anyone else’s. I don’t know if that helps helps, but you probably don’t need much guilt about it.
Thank you. That actually does help. :)
Play this and get back to me on your fearsona. Mine is a little whippet.
Well shit. That hit deep.
Thank you.
I just played the whole thing…
…I’m gonna be honest. That was hard. But…it helped.
…I thank you. :)
Edit: By the way, mine is a common housecat, but one with grungy hair and a scaredy-cat disposition. ;)
Do remember- it really is trying to help. Negative self talk really is a useful social animal trait that’s just going a bit haywire, so figure out what its trying to do and be nice to it.
Also, pain can be experienced first as emotional distress, especially if its pain you’ve lived with for a long time, and its just hurting extra bad.
Sometimes its easier to do self-care when you picture it as outside of yourself.
So when you’re really feeling like shit, try acknowledging its concerns, rational or irrational, and then tell your little red cat its doing a good job and its safe to take a nap.It isn’t a magic fix, but its an actual process to go through. And that feels better than just stewing.
That makes a lot of sense. I never considered personification of anxiety as a therapeutic tool.
Thank you. :)
P.S. By the way, that really was a well-done game, clearly made with attention and love. Very good. :)
You are with yourself 100% of the time. You can be a friend to yourself and try to help yourself out or you can kick the crap out of yourself which will not solve anything and in addition will make you miserable. What’s done is done, and you’ve clearly thought a lot about it and found your behavior unacceptable in those instances. You can incorporate those lessons and become a wiser person or you can punish yourself endlessly for your mistakes and get nothing. You aren’t good or bad, you are capable of doing good or doing bad.
Honestly speaking—make yourself cry.
Let whatever is causing your negative emotions to overwhelm and release. It’s incredibly cathartic and you’ll feel much better if you just give in and let it happen. The reason doesn’t have to be anything super important, or could be something super important; regardless crying should be embraced as an act of self care.
Meditate on the breath.
Usually feel great after a cry, but some times I treat myself with a shower in the dark with music or a podcast playing in the background
