Outside it’s well above zero. I woke this morning hearing birds singing. When I opened my window to bright sun, I swore I could smell ‘green’.

On a day like today, there is no chance I’m going to feel anything but really great.

Two weeks ago, it was a different story: it was dull and freezing outside; few people were getting vaccinated, meaning we all had to continue to isolate. Covid fatigue was a frequent reference point for anyone I connected with online, for anyone talking about anything on the news.

Two weeks ago, it was a lot harder for me to be anything but moody.

Yes, harder. And not impossible.

The Ted talk I’ve included in the newsletter is worth watching for some viewpoints that help shake a bad mood. Besides those wise words, when I look into my own bouts of moodiness, it’s most often because I’m pre-occupied with something worrying. That means I’m not at all present.

I’ve learned to know what that pre-occupation feels like for me – a jumpiness in my stomach, a shortness of breath, an inability to keep my hands in one place. It’s become a signal for me to drop everything and switch my focus to what is in front of me, and to really listen and look.

Then, I don’t so much shake the mood I was in as loose interest in it.

How about you?

How not to take things personally

Quote of the Week 

““I have the choice of being constantly active and happy or introspectively passive and sad. Or I can go mad by ricocheting in between..”
– Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

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Maryanne