Tuesday, April 08, 2008

What to Do for a Bad Mood

First let me say that there's nothing life-and-death troubling me just now. But at the moment I do have computer problems, dental problems, agent problems, and book problems. I'm sure I could think of something else to put on that list if I put my irritated mind to it.

Last night my husband asked me what he could to cheer me (he's a large bright spot, that's for sure.) I told him he could bring me home a gooey dessert. He brought a slice of cheesecake with a layer of chocolate crumbles on the top. Good man. Good cheesecake.

Gooey chocolate dessert: That's one thing to do for a bad mood, as long as the cure doesn't get out of hand. (I also meditated for half a hour which helped too.)

What do you do for a minor but brain-numbing multi-day bad mood? (Better come up with something or I'm likely to get out of hand.)



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5 comments:

Mamie said...

Yesterday I was in a great mood even though it was a gray Monday. I walked in the office (I work with my husband) and he started bitching about a letter he couldn't find. I got in a bad mood. So I guess I would say that the way to deal with my bad moods is to go home and do what I like to do instead of hanging out with Mr. Grumpy Boss-Spouse. Or I could send him to YOUR husband for some re-programming! Cheesecake indeed!

billie said...

Go to the mountains.

Ride my horses.

Play with the miniature donkey (who loves hugs and gives them back).

Go over to Fresh Market (if at my office) and buy some fancy loose tea and a perfect chocolate truffle.

Alternate to the previous entry: go to Fresh Market and get a Classic Coke and a small bag of their chocolate covered peanuts.

Go to 10,000 Villages and spend $20. or less on something neat for desk/shrine/sandtray/etc.

Take a notebook and pen and go sit in the Rose Garden. Write something just for oneself, a "not for sale" poem or essay or short story.

Go to the nursery of your choice and buy a flat of things to plant.

Hopefully one of these might strike your fancy - I wanted to do my part in preventing your getting out of hand!

Peggy Payne said...

Thank you both. Mamie and Billie, for keeping me from getting out of hand.

I've found before that the "not for sale" kind of writing is amazingly freeing. I tend to have commitments, though, that make me keep working on the planned project. But when I have the time, that one's really good. Probably I should just make time for it. The more I think of it, the better that idea seems, for lots of reasons.

(A little while ago my office partner came back from her house bringing me a piece of four layer cake. Apparently, I'm still a little testy.)

Solving the irritating problems is a good thing too; though that's not always possible. My computer virus has now been contained; that's a great relief.

Direct action is a great thing. And it pretty often works with things that aren't completely out of my control.

The essence of compulsiveness, though, is creating an action that is supposed to be a solutions to a problem but isn't.

A writer-buddy of mine has just sent out queries to a huge number of agents. She feels that if she keeps the log of their responses neatly enough, she'll get a good agent. She knows this is silly, but....

Big trouble would of course dwarf all of this. But that's not a solution I'm interested in.

Debra said...

You're right Peggy, big trouble would dwarf all of this, but sometimes it is okay for us to just wallow in the small stuff.

I love Billie's suggestion about playing with her miniature donkey. I imagine that would make anyone feel better.

I head for the chocolate, but the gooey cheesecake sounds just as good!

Spend a little time alone with nature. I actually did that yesterday and ended up grabbing my camera which distracted me even more.

Take some pictures of interesting things that strike you. Get lost in the visual.

Create something with clippings from a magazine, and other little scraps of wrapping paper or ribbon that you have around the house or office.

I think that distraction is the best way to deal with a bad mood. Try to entertain your senses in ways that you wouldn't normally do. I love to browse book stores, or art galleries.

Be well, my friend.

Hugs,
Deb

Peggy Payne said...

Thanks, Deb. I'm impressed that you have any tolerance just now for other people's niggling complaints.

And turns out it's not my own most niggling stuff that's getting to me. Which I'm going to post about later today.

Thanks for your good suggestions. I'm glad that nature and photograpy--and your four angels, of course--are helping you.