Early spring in New England, with its seemingly endless cold, gray days, has me in a nasty funk, feeling restless and cranky. I know, intuitively, this is all part of seasonal cycling and will pass; however, as I trudge through it, it’s tough! As part of my coping strategy, I’ve been spending more time in quiet reflection reading through old journals and inspirational books. It seems this is not the first funk I’ve been in! I went through a particularly rough patch over a decade ago. To keep myself grounded and focused on the positive, I challenged myself to log at least one journal entry every day relaying something good that happened that day, from a seemingly minuscule event like a really amazing cup of coffee to something much bigger like a totally breathtaking hike in the mountains. I called these my “Daily Crumbs”. Below is a sampling of some of my entries:
- a few stolen moments of solitude reading on the couch with a sleeping kitty on my chest
- a brilliant night sky lit by thousands of twinkling stars
- a strenuous run followed by recovering on the deck with my face to the sun and birds singing all around
- taking a hot, hot shower after being chilled to the bone
- passing a commercial haul truck on my drive into work with a giant life-sized Clifford The Big Red Dog sitting in the passenger seat
- slipping into my Birkenstocks after a long hike
- watching my toddler completely engaged in making his baby sister laugh in her bouncy chair
- watching two grown adults (no kids in sight) spend the day building an enormous snowman
- my husband washing my favorite mug by hand and putting it in the drying rack so I would have it for coffee in the morning
- peanut butter and chocolate!
- baby belly laughs
No matter how bad my day had gone, I could always find something beautiful in the mundane, the diamond in the rough if you will. And, the more I forced myself to focus on the small things that brought me happiness, the more abundant these events became. Anyone who knows me knows I am a fierce believer in the power of subtle energy. We manifest that which we project, both for ourselves and those around us. Just think how contagious a bad mood is, or a good one, for that matter. All those negative or positive energy molecules seep their way into everything we come into contact with, and the reverse is true, as well. We can increase abundance of The Wonderful simply by nurturing more of that type of energy. It’s contagious in the best possible way!
In today’s world, with the seemingly constant stream of bad news (mostly the result of sensationalist news reporting and 24/7 access, in my humble opinion), and nearly epidemic rates of anxiety and depression, I think practicing this way of positive reconditioning is essential to our physical and mental health. Doing so forces us to remember, as we tackle the tough issues and unpleasant tasks in our daily life, that there are good and beautiful things in the world. It forces us to refocus our attention on those good and beautiful things instead of letting ourselves get sucked into a whirlpool of despair.
Recently, I saw a Times video clip of author Caitlin Moran reading from her book Moranifesto. One passage from the chapter titled “To Teenage Girls on the Edge” read:
Buy flowers… And put them at the end of your bed. When you wake, look at them and tell yourself that you are the kind of person who wakes up and sees flowers. That will stop your first thought from being “I fear today, today is maybe the day I cannot survive anymore….” Thinking about blossoms before you think about terror is what girls must do in the Bad Days.
Life is never going to be all flowers and butterflies. We are going to hit some rough patches, maybe even some devastating patches, but knowing that there is good to balance the bad, sunshine behind the clouds, flowers at the end of our bed, may just make these patches more bearable. And maybe, even make them pass a little bit quicker by consciously shifting the energy dynamic.
So, I started logging “Daily Crumb” entries again about a week ago during a huge April snowstorm that nearly drove me to the brink of my sanity. The following day, the sun came out for the first time in over a week. The temperature hovered in the 50’s and the birds were singing. Coincidence? Maybe. But then again, maybe not. Your welcome New Hampshire! Your welcome!
I so enjoy reading your blog. I know exactly how you feel about the dreary dark days! I always like to think about the springtime flowers knowing that they will come. On Sunday I said to my husband, i so want to be in the garden, but since I can’t I am going out to make a snowman which I did and I felt better just being outside.
Thanks Chriss! I really made an attempt this winter to embrace the weather and did a lot of winter hiking, which made it so much more bearable. I was doing so well until March! I try to stay positive as much as I can, but March really is a terrible month! (:= Thanks for reading!
March was not fun this year! Normally I don’t mind it but this year i did, even though the first week of it i was in CA visiting Tina and the weather there was perfect. We were able to do some walking and work in her flower garden. Hugs to you and your family.