Hello. How do you cheer yourself up when you feel like a Pile of Garbage™? Do you have a pump up jam? A certain outfit or perfume you wear? Do you need to be social, or alone? Work out and shower or stretch and go to bed to a well-worn Netflix show soundtrack? Is it hot Cheetos? It’s hot Cheetos isn’t it. Tell me!!
Inspired by this video and also my depression
Things that have broken thru my personal depression before:
OutKast
Wearing lipstick
Making low key social plans
Tarot
Gratitude journaling
Memes
Laughing til I pee, usually when sharing a silly TikTok with my beloved DH and thus reliving it thru him
Making something tasty, where the making takes several steps so I can get into it.
Buying something tasty
Texting nonsense with my friends
Watching my favourite shows
Specific music
Looking at the stars or the water or the lights at night or flowers or bugs or whatever is available to me
Making detailed travel itineraries for trips I will never take
Video games
Books
Masturbating
Talking to my dogs
Driving around with music playing
Singing
Dancing
watching a beloved movie whilst horizontal on the couch
chatting with a dear friend
walking near some water/under trees
taking a shower
doing some simple chore
food – oatmeal when i want to feel comforted, salt and vinegar chips or fried chicken or dr pepper and sometimes a big salad with many things in it and this fancy ranch i like
oh and painting! and playing my piano! and rearranging furniture/ revamping my living space. these all making me feel happy if i can get myself to do them.
Lighting a candle on a clean surface
Weeding a garden
Playing fetch with the cat
Sitting on the porch on a hot summer night while the sky slowly darkens
really hard exercise, like so hard you can’t think and you get the big endorphins after
part of the first one, but a longgggg hike in nature, like 4-5 hours
cooking something new that is really time intensive and delicious, while watching a fav show
being of service to others
playing piano. I’ve been playing since I was 5, so it’s the thing I know how to do better than probably anything. There is something so comfy about just losing yourself in muscle memory with no effort when you need to dissociate a bit from reality. I think this can apply to anyone with anything they are really good at, or comes easily to them.
thrift store retail therapy
calling some of my long distance friends to catch up on what’s going on with their lives
really satisfying organizing/cleaning projects, like rearranging the pantry or spice cabinet, or folding all the laundry. Something about laundry just always cheers me up…like I have all of these towels, and clothes to wear, I am so lucky! A full sock drawer just really does it for me
For me, the number one thing is getting out of my head and my problems/life and trying to focus outward. On other people, whether that’s helping or just catching up on a friends life. For some people I know it’s better to journal and introspect, but I’ve always found the opposite to be true for myself personally.
My life is flip turned upside down, so many of my happy things aren’t accessible or what used to be easy seems super hard to get.
Easy to get
Cola
Weed
Music
Podcasts
Popcorn
Chips
Pizza
Other yummy food
Next level of getting
Romance novels
A bath
Alone time
Trash TV
Cooking something complex and forcing people to enjoy it
A walk
Prosecco
Pink champagne
The library
Winners
Greenhouses
Bigger and better
Friend time
A hike
Swimming
Yoga
A bath with noone fucking crying or coming to say hi
Healthy stuff
Kombucha
Adult time
Work/helping others with my special skills
Camping
Hotel rooms
A beach
That good kind of shopping day where you find and afford things
Going and being outside when it’s nice out. Bonus happiness seems to come from doing physical activity there but when in the dumps sometimes all you can do is get your butt outside.
Music. Sometimes I gotta learn into the sad and then later foray into the upbeat.
Take a shower.
Do the tiniest thing to improve my environment or progress on a hobby.
reading (specifically religious content, I always have a book I’m working through)
nature walk
reorganizing something (and taking before and after pics!)
watching uplifting youtube videos
negative visualization
pilates
looking at photos of landscapes online
korean spa
taking a shower with the lights off
going to a cafe or restaurant alone
going to the movies
doing a full primp at home (hair oil treatment, face mask, shaving, shower, nails, etc.) and then putting on silky pajamas
cooking/baking- I find if I’m really in a bad place it’s best to do something I know well, that is muscle memory, like making pasta.
looking back over my calendar to see all the things I’ve done in the last couple of months
incense/candles
sitting on my deck in the sun, even if it’s cold
making future social plans or at least reaching out to friends
k dramas
comfort re-watch shows
climbing
podcasts (lately Dressed is my favorite, it’s about fashion history)
cozy mystery audiobook
true crime youtube
slice of life type documentaries
planning hypothetical dinner party menus
making hypothetical meal plans (either normal ones or for trips, like upcoming camping trips, etc.)
working on ideas for my youtube channel
shooting shorts for youtube
making a fancy drink
neighborhood walk
trying a new makeup or hair style via tutorials
taking care of something that needs to be done
doing something nice for a friend
listening to river sounds on spotify
browsing cookbooks
second screening a show I’ve seen with random interneting
watching people on youtube who have really different lives than I have
strength training
cleaning the kitchen
watching my cat enjoy his life
this is kind of a weird one but avoiding certain things- if I’m already in a delicate state I try to observe the impact various nutriments have on my state of mind, and I cut out anything that makes it worse whether that’s online stuff, certain people, news, a movie, etc.
There are also lots of things dh and I do together or that he does for me but these are things I can do for myself. A lot of them are things I can do all the time/anywhere but some are more dependent on ability. It’s important that I have a lot that are not dependent on ability, for obvious reasons!
