I find this time of year difficult and am desperately trying to find ways to prevent myself from mentally spiralling like I did this time last year. Looking for any advice, tips, laughs, love!!! 🧡

Question

Analisa Burns · Answer

ridiculously long walks: your friend's house is 6 miles away? cool go fill up your limited edition Owala and be on your way

font · Answer

mend something! 🪡🧵: I keep a pile of clothes that need buttons replaced or rips repaired. When I'm able to catch myself I can replace doomscrolling with mending. I put on a comfort rewatch and turn on a task light. The sense of accomplishment sticks pretty well!

(This style is Sashiko, a Japanese form of mending. Pretty much every culture has their own traditions, so there's also a fun research rabbit hole attached.)

xo from someone also going through it 🫠

Jules · Answer

A Year in Practice: Seasonal Rituals and... (Jacqueline Suskin): "Winter invites restoration so you can come back to your craft with renewed energy". Isn't that a nice idea? A little reframe work, a little practical advice, a little witchy woo... this book has everything. The season as ritual does wonders for my mental state.

Jeanine Nault · Answer

Candlelight shower: A bath is too much work for me sometimes. The movement and warmth of the water by candle or a night light can really help me. Bonus if you can get a good cry in there too! Always makes me feel better

Hannah Harvey · Answer

Treat yourself like a baby: A young one that you just need to keep alive. Sleep as much as you can. Feed yourself at allotted times. Go outside, not because it will fix everything, but because you know it’s good for your brain. Sometimes the pursuit of joy or pleasure or relief in difficult times can become its own job, and keeping your task super simple — keep baby alive! — can help. Everything is a cycle, this time of year will end eventually, and your spark will come back. I promise!

Sending love and support! I’ve also been overwhelmed lately and here are some other truly random things that have helped, in the spirit of simplicity: not wearing headphones on my commute, not wearing nail polish/keeping my nails short, buying new underwear to replace grody old ones.

Christen · Answer

Marco's Fun House - Vintage Recipes Gone Wrong: Marco caters to the Barbaras who love watching him suffer in the gayest way possible: making and eating meaty jelly molds.

Lyla · Answer

Eating pasta in front of the TV: Heaven.

Carmen · Answer

going on a winter hobby hunt: combat that seasonal depression by finding a new love. doesn’t have to be your deepest love or your most frequented love, but oh the sweetness of discovering a spark in something new for you!

Chiara · Answer

plan a vacation or staycation: or something else that you can look forward to - some space for future you and the knowledge that it will be different eventually

but also just as @lidarichardson said, mostly sending solidarity 🫶🏻 I’m sure you’re doing all the “right” things or at least the things you are doing are all the things you can feasibly do right now. sometimes recs are helpful but also sometime you gotta check yourself (be kind and gentle and self-compassionate toward how you’re handling everything, even if it doesn’t feel better yet) before you rec yourself (pressure yourself to do all the things bc other people say they will help). IDK sorry it sucks rn ❤️‍🩹

Elizabeth · Answer

set a feelings timer: You gotta feel your feelings or else they'll eat you alive BUT if you feel them too much they can also eat you alive. When I'm really down and want to wallow a bit, I set a timer and just dig in. Once the timer is off, I dust off and get going again. Alternatively, I dedicate one activity to the badness (a shower, a movie, a cup of tea) and once that's over, it's time to get going to something good.

Erica · Answer

Surrounding yourself with the right people: I’m seeing you’re in Australia so I’m assuming some of this is related to the onset of summer? if so May I just say I relate? i find the season to be a real bummer and I think that doesn’t get the same attention as winter sadness.

when I feel doom & gloom coming on I try to surround myself with people who make me feel understood re: mental health. With respect to my loved ones, that isn’t necessarily everyone! Some friends & family make me feel worse when I’m vulnerable & thats not to say they’re bad but they’re just not what I need. Giving myself permission to be really careful who I spend time with has been crucial. And being honest with those people that I do let in, makes all the difference.

Dana · Answer

A SAD lamp: I love that I recommended a sad lamp and the photo was a dog, so just gonna leave that as is. Highly recommend to leave on while having coffee and answering emails in the morning. You can find them on Amazon usually for under $100 usd.

Karen Fischer · Answer

Take a walk and go buy a pen: It doesn't have to be a pen, but find a place to take a walk to eventually get a thing done. Hopefully a place with some shops, sounds, and stimuli. Bring your headphones. Big wraparound ones are best. Listen to new music, or an album you're been curious about. I recommend walking at night.

Anna Fleming · Answer

Get this relatively cheap light-up tree and then spend winter evenings making small silly ornaments for it: I found one at Home Goods for $29.99 yesterday and I’m very excited to spend November making lil ornaments for it. I think telling yourself that it should be as silly and as whimsical as you want (and not *aesthetic decor*) is the key. This is for your joy only

Nothing beats gloom like a low stakes silly ongoing project!!!!

JaperMoon · Answer

Dancing to (at least) one song, every single day: Its exercise but also it signals to your brain that you are safe, it’s stress management thats more fun than meditation or journaling.

Sometimes i need to force myself to do it and i’ll put on a less-upbeat song and just sway my body. I bet that recent req for songs that build up would he good.

Linking to an email from Booty and Brains about dance as stress management that really spoke to me.

Also this emoji looks like me :)

EB · Answer

Build a relationship with a body of water: Do you have a swimming hole, lake, pond, creek, or river nearby that you can visit? I’ve started visiting a lake that’s about 30 min from me. In summer I’ll paddleboard or bring a book to the shore and sit, in winter I’ll cold plunge and build a fire. Sometimes I’ll give offerings to the water. Feels like visiting an old friend and takes me out of the ramblings of my own mind. Bonus points if you can build these practices with a friend or group of friends. In winter we try to cold plunge same time once a week!

Sarah C · Answer

Pretty rocks: Start a collection of pretty tumbled palm stones (don't overthink; if it catches your eye, get it) and keep them at your desk, in your pockets, on your nightstand, etc. Hold them when you feel especially low and just breathe. The tactile and visual stimulation really helps snap me out of it.

flat · Answer

channel your inner winston churchill: battle “the black dog” as he called it (the big sad as i call it) by laying some bricks

or, more generally, by using your hands to create more than you consume

Lida Richardson · Answer

Solidarity: Hiiii I don’t think I have any good advice but I wanted to say that despite the whole opposite side of the world thing you are not alone?!!! This month has been kicking my ass and I have been feeling so underwater and isolated and really more overwhelmed than I have in a long time. Sometimes when I feel this low I forget it’s a passing feeling that other people also experience, so I figured it would be nice to remind each other. The isolation is an illusion. Rn a lot of the things I would do to cheer myself up aren’t possible for me, ie long walks or being super social, so I don’t want to recommend those things in case they aren’t accessible to you. But maybe just do one thing every day that’s kind to yourself? Anything that could be categorized as a treat? Not to be soooooo basic. Also for me when I get this sad I get really disconnected from music - maybe we should make a playlist? Okay ily sending a huge hug

bradshaw · Answer

ethically sourced gossip: go to an estate sale and look at someone’s books or trinkets. i love to get to know people i’ll never know and guess what they were like. it’s very cute to me.

also sometimes it’s easy to get wrapped in your mind when you don’t have anywhere easy to go. find somewhere easy!

one time i got a tiny butter yellow teapot with its own steeper that makes tea for two!!! i know it was someone’s favorite and now it’s mine.

bradshaw · Answer

palms towards the sun: when you’re really tense, open your hands, put the back of your hands on your desk or thighs (sitting criss cross applesauce is best), and face your palms toward the sky. BOTH. for whatever reason, it makes your mind open to choosing a new way to express / redirect energy.

you can do a sun salutation and all that but sometimes you’re too sad to do yoga.

bradshaw · Answer

pocket leather journal: pour your feelings into one of your journals. close it. throw it in your back pocket. the swag of having a notebook in your back pocket really offsets whatever you needed to get off of your chest.

and you can write a random to do list on the next page to pretend you feel chill and normal.

Lizzie · Answer

Countdown app for spring forward!: Watching the number tick down helps a lot!