Dealing with the Emotional Ickies!

I have recently been playing with asemic writing, which is an abstract form of writing that resembles handwriting or script, but doesn’t contain readable words or sentences. It’s like playing with words without having to actually form words. I then added this quote from Edmund Burke:

Never despair…but if you do,
work on in despair.

– Edmund Burke 1797

We all have our hard days and disappointments. EVERY single one of us feels despair at one time or another. People let us down, things do not go as planned, we fail others, others fail us, and our sadness and exhaustion turns to despair. It may not be how we want to feel, yet it is a natural part of being human. To be content with ourselves we have to embrace the good, the bad and the ugliness of our existence, and that means dealing with the down turns we face even in the midst of everything else going our way.

How do we do that? I like Edmund Burke’s suggestion, work on in despair. When I feel sad, filled with despair, I know that sometimes getting busy with a project or completing one that is in progress helps me work out my emotional kinks. It gives me time to think, keep going, cry it out in private which eventually rounds off my rough emotional edges. I am tired emotionally and physically, and yet I can look back on my physical efforts to see progress and a light at the end of the tunnel. In other words, I work on in despair. I’ve done it many times, and it really does help.

I know that some challenges and depressing things in life cannot be fixed by painting a bathroom or clearing out a closet. Those moments needs help and support from people you trust. Knowing ourselves and understanding the difference between despair and a deep depression comes with wisdom and asking for help. And no matter how awful it feels, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it is NOT an oncoming train. (Please seek help if you feel that a train is heading your way!)

Let me encourage you to take a deep breath and literally work it out. Roll up your sleeves, tackle the thing you have been avoiding, and give yourself the gift of working and thinking through whatever it is that has given you the emotional ickies! You just might find that Edmund Brakes was right!