I’m not terribly interested in this blog becoming deeply personal. However, when things happen in my personal life that I believe can be helpful for others, I’m certainly going to share.
The past week or so has been a challenging one for me. I’ve had some difficult things happen in my personal life, and have also had a challenging week work wise- both in the artistic sphere, and with my business. I think it’s very easy for anyone to let their emotions get the better of them. When we’re sad or overwhelmed we want to curl up in bed, eat ice cream (or chocolate covered pretzels, or something), and not move forward with our goals, our work, our life. We wallow, and we think, “I can take some time to be sad”.
Okay- I agree- to a point. People should take some time to be sad. When stuff happens that makes a person sad, or confused, or angry, by all means, they should work with it. But, after a little reflection, contemplation, and general slothful behavior, I think we have to slap ourselves around a bit. Wallowing will not get you anywhere, and from somewhere inside of you, I think you have to summon the energy to move forward in the face of sadness, adversity, or general malaise. Because once the feelings of doom and gloom have finally lifted, the last thing you want is to feel behind, stressed out, and set back.
I think that the time right after feeling upset is the perfect time to take a deep breath, gird your loins, and get back to work in earnest. Work yourself to the bone, really. A week from now, when you’ve made a ton of killer progress on your novel, your business, or the opera you’re composing, you’ll be really happy you lost yourself in that, rather than in pint after pint of Ben and Jerry’s and SVU.