up n down
I was thinking about the ups & downs we all face throughout our lives and how we deal with them. Lately I've been feeling like the boy on this see-saw - more down than up. It's partly because every time I leave Melbourne after a visit I feel very unsettled, but mostly it's because I tend to respond to life's hurdles in a negative way. I know being up n down go hand in hand and we can't have one without the other so the trick to this, like all things in life, is to find balance. My biggest problem is a lack of self-discipline in my personal life (oh, okay, it creeps into my professional life too). My life is very extreme and changes every few months - abundant/poor, motivated/lazy, sober/stoned, slut/celibate, sociable/reclusive, Dolly Parton/er... Dolly Parton.I feel better already. Look out bunny, the only way for me is UP
I hope you all had a peaceful Easter and saved some of your eggs for 'ron
posted by nash at 9:29 AM
5 Comments:
Hi Nash,
Your picture is adorable and very apropos for your post. Ironically (another coincidence file?) we both feel like the boy at the bottom of the seesaw right now. I agree with you that being up and down go hand in hand; it’s quite difficult to experience one without the other. Perhaps we wouldn’t enjoy the good times as much if we didn’t also experience the bad times. And tossing a Holiday in to the mix when you’re depressed certainly doesn’t help. I find myself fantasizing that “everyone” is having a marvelous day but me; it’s too bad the seesaw doesn’t go up for private “pity parties”, because I’d be the happiest woman alive this evening! Do you think “pity parties” might be “fun” if we shared them with others?
Are you sure your problem is “lack of self-discipline” and not a lot of external things happening to and around you that you’ve no control over? I desperately want to have control over my day-to-day life, but at the present time that doesn’t seem possible, which is depressing and maddening. Perhaps when you’re stoned or reclusive or whatever, it’s your internal way of coping with problems or situations that you’re unable to resolve, and you find it easier to withdraw or remove yourself from a given reality.
“Madame Litzi” ought to stick to her Magic 8 Ball and quit trying to play shrink! I hope you were sincere when you said you felt better and that the Bunny better “look out” because you were on the upswing! Let me know how the view is from up there, will you please??
Hi Miss Litzi,
Pity parties sound like a great idea to me - get all our miserable friends together and drown our sorrows. A problem shared n all that sort of thing. Like a lot of people I'm much better at dealing with everyone else's problems than my own...
Yeah, I'm sure my lack of self-discipline explains a lot about the rut I find myself in. The external stuff I have no control over doesn't help, but I'm responsible for how I respond to it. I really did feel better by the time I got to the end of this post.
And finally, what music would you play at a pity party? Something melancholy or upbeat?
And finally, what music would you play at a pity party? Something melancholy or upbeat?
The entire Patsy Cline songbook. On repeat.
Hi Nash,
“What music would you play at a pity party?” It appears that “The Other Andrew” has answered that question for me. Thanks!
However….MY first choice would be either Dirges or Gregorian Chants. You really want to “set the mood” for a proper pity party, right? I like your idea of rounding up all our miserable friends and having a communal drowning of sorrows…what fun! In that case, how about “99 Bottles of Beer” (a traditional song in the U.S. that’s popular to sing on long trips because it has a repetitive format which is easy to memorize and can take a long time to sing), “How Dry I Am”, or Jimmy Buffett’s “Margaritaville”. If the pity party turned uproarious and gleeful, “Good Day Sunshine” (yes, I remembered) would be nice. Two songs I would strongly discourage are “I’m a Loser” by The Beatles and “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones. Even pity party participants have standards, sort of!
I’m also better at helping others deal with their problems than my own; probably because it’s easier to be objective when it’s not your life at stake! You may be coming down to hard on yourself; you can’t expect to go through life with a Pollyanna attitude when the sky is falling down on your head. If writing a post really helped lift your spirits, maybe you should write them more often; a form of self discipline that boosts your mental outlook. There I go playing amateur shrink again…sorry.
Don't forget Roy "the Big O" Orbison and Leonard Cohen
Post a Comment
<< Home