Goodbye to the Blahs and the Blues

A parody of a song from the 70s is running through my head. The original tune is called, “Everybody Plays the Fool.” My brain has rewritten the refrain to address a case of the blues I am experiencing. Here’s my version:

Everybody feels the blues sometime.

There’s no exception to the rule.

Listen, baby, it may be factual, may be cruel.

I ain’t lying. Everybody feels the blues.

*****

Clearly, I am trying to find comfort in the fact that such feelings are “normal” as I negotiate my way through them.

Trying to deal with my funk yesterday, I thought I’d just sleep it off. I set a timer for thirty minutes and stretched out on the sofa. When the alarm rang, I turned it off, threw a blanket over my head, and went back to sleep. Two hours and fifteen minutes later, I woke up. Suffice it to say, I accomplished nothing yesterday. Beside my general malaise, I also felt guilty about not handling the day’s to-do list.

That was definitely not a good solution to the problem, so today I went on to Plan B, and tried a Google search instead. I typed in: I’m feeling blue, now what? I came up with two articles that sounded helpful. The first offered 15 Things to Do to Fight the Blues. It was pretty generic – here are a handful of their ideas. You will see what I mean – plus you will get a chuckle from the last one:

• Take a shower
• Practice meditation
• Watch a nostalgic show
• Read a positive book
• Sleep it off (!!!!)

The second article that Dr. Google offered was called 20 Lists to Make When You Need a Quick Pick-Me-Up. Noting that I am already suffering from yesterday’s undone list, this makes creating more lists distasteful, but here are a handful of ideas from that article just the same:

• Make a list of places you’d love to visit
• A list of people you can connect with/spend time with over the next six months
• A list of memories that make you smile from the last 12 months
• A list of books you’d like to read
• A list of films and TV programs you’d like to watch

Suffice it to say that for a chronic list-maker, making lists is not a comforting thing…

As I try to figure out what exactly “hurts” and what to do about it, I think of pep talks I would give any friend experiencing a funk. There are three main points I would make.

• It is disconcerting to be our age – Every day we hear about some friend in need of a hip or a knee replacement, not to mention the fact that some of our contemporaries are dying. My book club alone has lost a beloved member, and of the other eight ladies, there are five widows, two divorcees, and only one woman whose husband is still alive.
• We are still shaken from the pandemic – As much as the world seems to be moving on as if the pandemic never happened, I’m not believing that’s possible. We all had a collective fright that changed our confidence in the everyday being the everyday. Like my dad who never stopped worrying about money after living through the depression, I don’t think society can move on so easily from Covid-19. This was a worldwide upheaval, it will take a long time to put down roots again.
• And then, of course, we all have real reasons to be upset – If nothing else, most of us has a friend or relative or business associate who makes us CRAZY.

Giving myself extra credit for that third point, I’m actually feeling a little better. It’s amazing that journaling (in my case blogging) about a problem can be so helpful.

Perked up a bit, I continue my healing by noticing a variety of wall-hangings that exist in my house:

• Relax…you’re home.
• This is my happy place.
• Cherish family.
• Get rich quick, count your blessings.
• I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.

And when it comes to comforting words, here are two terrific ones that I find in my pantry: Hershey Miniatures.

Well, ok, I seem to be laughing again. How fortunate! I have had times in my life where I have fallen into an emotional black hole that needed a doctor’s help to alleviate. (And there is nothing wrong with getting a doctor’s help when needed!) Gratefully, that hasn’t happened in decades and wasn’t the case this week.

My game plan now is to give myself an extra dose of selfcare for the next few days to be sure I don’t relapse. Thus, I say hello to Hershey’s dark chocolate as I say goodbye to the blahs and the blues.

*****

Like my writing? Try my book reviews. My Book Blog has over 200 reviews. Here are links to the most recent ones…

• Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
• Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade by Janet Skeslien Charles
• Liars by Sarah Manguso