Getting out of a funk

#QOTD: What are you reading and is it a physical book or an eBook?
 
I spent the yesterday hiding in the bookstore, doing freelance work, and trying to decide which book to buy myself as a pick-me-up. I settled on Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, and I’m very happy with it. I also got THE COOLEST journal (pictured above)! It’s going to be my positive-thoughts journal.
 
Basically, it’ll be a place for me to write down my outlandish, happy, crazy life dreams and goals. It’s something I need right now. Shout out to you Law of Attraction people who use “scripting” all the time. I learned this habit from you.
 
Using scripting as a way to break down negative thoughts is my favorite way to get my motivation back. Writing down your wild dreams – fleshing them out with details and letting yourself feel the positive, uplifting excitement that you know you’ll feel when you make them real – helps you gain focus on your goals and gives you the motivation to work on making them happen.
 
Yesterday’s post was about how I’ve been in a funk, how I’m trying to do more happy activities to help me get out of a negative headspace. The funny thing is, by the time I went to bed yesterday, not long after I posted, I felt amazing. Better than I have for the last 6 weeks, maybe the last 6 months since going freelance.
 
I hadn’t slept in 36 hours. Had been in a funk for WEEKS. Felt in general like nothing in my life was moving forward. Butting my head against the wall. But somehow, I felt better.
 
And I don’t know if it was the fact that I got out of the house yesterday just for fun, or because I was meditating on my dreams, or because I’ve had a few good cries lately that got the bad stuff out of my system for a while. I don’t know what exactly did it, but something lifted my funk yesterday.
 
Now, don’t get me wrong – I know that good times come and go. But if you’re like me, you feel like you’re always in some bad predicament or getting ready for the next one. There’s a certain amount of realism that comes with that negativity. I’m okay with the fact that bad things are just a part of life, and by not resisting that, it helps me feel more connected to everything. The thing is, knowing that hard times are a part of life, kind of lifts the pressure to be happy, which helps me… be happier.
 
Isn’t that weird?
 
Right now, I want to focus on having more happy days. Everyday won’t be perfect. But life is short, too short to NOT cultivate happiness when you can. This mentality wouldn’t work for me at all if I thought of happiness as something to aim for, but just trying to give it more space in my life is an idea that works for me.
 
You can read yesterday’s post here.
Speaking of things I wrote, I have a few recent publications that I haven’t put on my about page yet, so I wanted to drop them here in case any of them sound interesting to you.
 
Her Culture Blog:
Mindfulness in Everyday Life
What it’s like growing up hyper-religious
What Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Taught me about Womanhood
 
Medium
Noise (brief essay about anxiety)
 
If you made it this far, comment and tell me what you did today (even if it was nothing productive or fun, I want to learn about you guys!)