Philosophical Monday: The Tri-Weekly Habit: The Big Tackle
So I didn’t think last week’s “Hello Friday” blog was all that bleak, but apparently it was, b/c I got all sorts of encouraging comments and off-FaN emails about it. Thanks so much for all of your advice and commiseration, I really do appreciate it.
On Saturday, I read in the Week 24 chapter of my pregnancy book that depression is common during pregnancy — though they were unclear whether it was a hormone thing or whether it was chicken-and-egg scenario in that you can only deal with the discomfort of pregnancy for so long before you start to get down about it. Anyway, they had a list of symptoms, most of which I could check off, including loss of appetite, fatigue, and general sadness. I’ve also been overwhelmed and listless — I haven’t been writing, I was mentally M.I.A. at work, and FaN went to bed late 3 days out of 5 last week — which should have clued me in that it wasn’t just pregnancy discomfort.
I’m hugely relieved as I’m pretty good at tackling mild depression to the point that it’s become a bit of a formula. Here’s my 3 point plan to beat this latest bout after the jump:
1) Eat. Even if you don’t feel like it. Not eating only makes depression worse as it zaps your energy. I solved the food ennui problem by switching things up this week. Instead of my usual mixed fruit cup, I’ve been eating a tropical fruit cup with pineapple, papaya, and mango. CH also went to the grocery store alone this week and surprised me with a bunch of lunch and dinner stuff that I wouldn’t have picked out for myself. I’m out of most of my favorite foods right now, but the curiousity factor has kept everything from tasting like dirt, which is helpful when you’re eating sans hunger.
2) Get out of the house. Filly Film Cult had not one, but two non-business get-togethers this weekend. It’s funny, b/c I thought of both events as social obligations, seeing as how I was the invited not the spear-header, but they both turned out to be super-beneficial for me. Fellowship is the best.
3) Tackle the problems that you can. Now there are a few problems that are so big that they’re pretty much out of my hands. For instance whether or not Molly Ringwald agrees to let me use her name in the title of my book — I’ve sent the letter. Now there’s nothing I can do but wait and hope. Also, I’m not going to be able to control the fact that Betty’s become a real squirmer or that the economy is in the toilet.
But there are a lot of little things I can do:
I haven’t worked on my second novel since last Tuesday. Not writing is bad and I get depressed when I don’t do it. So I need to start writing again. Simple.
Also, I could get pro-active about the possible sale of my first novel and contact fellow alum in the book publishing world for advice.
And though I don’t think I can completely solve the achy hip problem at night, I can address it with a pregnancy massage — which I just found out is covered by my insurance (nice, right?). I can also do something about the fact that I’ve been lying awake, worrying myself sick about Betty. I can talk about it and crowd source the main stuff that’s been keeping me up at night in a series of “Big Worry” posts this week. How does that saying go: It takes a crowd-source to raise a child.
Anyway, this is all to say that I’m on it and hoping to kick depression’s demon ass this week. Wish me luck.
100% Resolved,
etc
P.S. — Giving up “kind of situation” is going pretty well. I didn’t slip once on Sunday.
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