Today is World Sauntering Day!
Saunter…
I don’t use this word at all, do you?
I prefer to use the word ‘stroll’ instead.
A good stroll for me means no hurry, peace of mind, walking meditation, total relaxation and focus on the beauty around me, while I am gently rocking my body by putting one foot in front of the other.
So simple! So easy! So connecting! So nourishing! So healing!
‘It is a great art to saunter.’ ~ Henry David Thoreau
So, you’ve opened this blog post and found a rather poor photograph and half a page of solid, black nothingness. There is a point to this, and it’s about finding the light at the end of a long, black tunnel. Allow me to explain.
I was in my home city of York, stuck in traffic and feeling sorry for myself. I’d just had the latest of three disappointments in as many weeks and was wondering if I could pick myself up enough to be a cheery presence at the leaving do I was on my way to.
Pondering these rather gloomy, negative thoughts and staring straight ahead at the back of a car I’d been looking at for nearly half an hour, I suddenly realised I was beneath an arch – Micklegate Bar – and there was literally light at the end of the tunnel. The unexciting image you can see above is that light.
I scrambled for my phone in an attempt to take a photo before the traffic began to move. I must have lurched as I took the photo, and found I’d taken a blurred, wonky photo of a ‘keep left’ sign. I tried again, and the traffic lights obligingly stayed red, as you can see from the resulting image.
The view you’ve just been looking at inspired me. I know it doesn’t look very inspiring, but to me it was a revelation and it changed my mood completely. Continue Reading »
Imagine yourself back at school. Today you are having your final exam in the subject ‘Depression 101’.
You studied depression very well throughout the academic year. You were literally living, sleeping, breathing it 24/7. You were an A* pupil, and your teacher, Mr. Pain, was always admiring and complimenting your homework.
Now, all that is left is for you to prove you were really doing all your practical assignments by yourself and that your deep knowledge of this subject is your real mastery.
You sit down behind a small desk. You feel comfortable and confident.
You fill in your name.
You are not worried. You know your subject. It will be over in 1 hour or as soon as you put down your 2000 words (whatever comes first).
The exam clock starts ticking. You compose yourself and turn the page over…
Your eyes scan the three possible choices: Continue Reading »
Before we get into ‘How to lift depression in 80 days of less’, I want to introduce you to my expert: Phileas Fogg*.
On October 2, 1872 (exactly 140 years ago), Phileas Fogg placed a wager:
“I will bet twenty thousand pounds against anyone who wishes, that I will make the tour of the world in eighty days or less… As today is Wednesday, the second of October, I shall be due in London, in this very room of the Reform Club, on Saturday, the twenty-first of December, at a quarter before nine PM; or else the twenty thousand pounds . . . will belong to you.”
Equipped with astonishing determination, commitment and a “no-matter-what” approach, he won that bet, despite all the challenges that stood in his way!
Are you looking for an answer to “How to lift your depression in 80 days or less”? Continue Reading »
I don’t think anyone needs an explanation for why our relationships are so important. We need them, full stop.
There are also moments in almost every person’s life when, wallowing in self-pity and crying our eyes out, we might whisper to ourselves: “I don’t need anyone…”
But,
in that very moment,
does our intense emotional pain (which can also make us physically sick) indicate that we are lying to ourselves, hurting ourselves and moving away from our primary social needs: attention (giving and receiving), intimacy, friendship, belonging and so many more? Continue Reading »
