Wednesday 23 November 2016

Lesson: When I do something small, I feel a bit better.

Yesterday I had a little bit of energy and I wanted to make some progress in my life. While I had breakfast I started to write in my journal. I started off like this:
OK. Let's get started. What's missing? What needs to be done? What needs to change? 
A river of indecision followed. Pen up; pen down. I stood up to do something, anything, and, turning, saw the dishes on the counter and sat back down again, struck by confusion, doubt, and the incomprehensible inertia of depression.
At some point I took to the internet to find out whether a particular Ikea product could hold CD's. One thing led to another and somewhere along the way I thought about supper, decided to buy the ingredients at a store that had sent me a coupon, remembered that I need eye cream, and proceeded to spend hours reading reviews of skin care products in preparation for a trip to buy frozen french fries and chicken strips...
Heading out to pick up my son, no time left to shop, I was overwhelmed by the futility of my actions and choices (or lack thereof). Pulling out of the McDonald's drive-thru with supper I wondered, quite seriously, "Have I lost my mind?"
The necessity of parenting being what it is, I rallied to meet the need, focused squarely on my role as homework helper. When my husband came home I looked down and told him that his supper was in the bag on the stove, focusing on our son's homework with steely resolve. My husband is amazing. He thanked me for supper without a hint of malice, chopped up veggies when I asked, and tolerated my tension. I am lucky.
That's not what this was supposed to be about though.
This is the thing: after supper, while the guys were working on a project outside, I started some laundry.
Then I emptied the dishwasher and cleaned up the kitchen.
When our son told me he was sad I listened and I got my husband to come and listen to.
Then I hung up the laundry and started another load.
It was very, very little, but it helped.
It helped me and my family because those tasks got done.
Moreover, it helped my mood.
Just sorting that laundry gave me a tiny lift emotionally, even if my body ached.
I reached out to my sibling, who asks me to stay in touch. That helped too.
Cleaning the kitchen is a victory because I'm building a habit: a daily clean counter and sink habit.
Hanging the laundry felt like completion. I did a little something. It didn't much matter what. But I did it and then I felt better.
Before bed I set up a digital checklist to help me remember if I've taken my meds, and then I added some more tasks, daily and weekly.
When I awoke, I got some reminders. Best of all, I remembered that it feels good to do something, no matter how small.
I got up earlier, I took my medication, I had breakfast, and emptied the dishwasher. Best of all, I have a start of a plan and some peace of mind. That is priceless.
So now off to tackle a bit more... If at times I don't know where to start, I think that I know now, deep in my soul, despite all of the confusion that depression, anxiety, and ADHD can bring, that starting anywhere is much, much better than nothing. 💝

Monday 21 November 2016

A step in the right direction: ebooks

A couple of hours ago I was in tears, for no reason except that I was sad and tired. I hoped that I might have PMS. No, I don't know, because I don't track my cycle (or anything else). Yes, I should. No, knowing that I should is not enough to make me do it. It's just another thing on my nebulous mental to do list..
Anyway, I came here for the second time in a day(!) to note that today I took a step in the right direction. First I have to step back to two days ago when I quit using Facebook. Wow. I'm not sure that I'm comfortable even writing about that, but, (deep breath) let's be real here. It's 2016 and I know I'm not the only one with an unhealthy attachment to their phone. Remember when they called them smart phones? Right, like smart drugs. My phone might be something, but it's not making me smarter..
Oh my goodness, such a detour.
Where was I going? Right... felt like crap, quit Facebook... possibly another reason why I felt especially overwhelmingly awful today... so, well, I guess I cheated. I read an electronic book. Not the whole book, but several chapters.
Reading! All the Distraction. None of the shame.
Okay, less of the shame. I still got nothing done, except that I read from an interesting and helpful book. The book I'm reading, which I recommend, was written by Dana White and came out last week.
Okay, that's all. Just a tip for the social media addicts out there... After a two day detox, an ebook helps. Hugs.
Oh yeah, maybe also blogging... Is it social media if I'm writing to myself? Anyway, the take away is reading. :)

One step at a time

I'm overwhelmed. Simple questions rush through my brain, unanswered. 
Is it better to keep a to-do list in the same notebook as my (recent) journal or separate?
Should I use Excel to make myself a daily checklist, or should the first scrap of paper I see suffice?
Should I spend time making my husband a birthday gift, or just catch up on and put away all the laundry, for once?
Should I tackle some laundry, try to declutter, or put on my coat and go get food for supper? I have no desire to leave my home or enter a store. 
My kitchen is littered with the debris from last night's homework. 
I'm cold. 
I guess I'm kind of a whiner. I'm not here to whine though. I'm here... to begin. 
I'm here to take one step, then another, with the hope that enough little steps will add up to a journey to somewhere... less sad. 
Every day there's a flow. Things to do. Things get done. Needless to say, I'm really behind. Yet, if I can do one more thing, then I am making progress. Sometimes the best I can do is to eliminate tasks. Christmas cards, for example, are not on my radar, except for a vague sense of guilt on the horizon. 

Okay, let's regroup. Let's pull it together. 

This very day, what's ahead. (In no order.)
- School pickup. 
- Homework.
- Groceries. 
- Supper. 
- Bedtime. 
- Activity drop-off and pickup. 
Those are the essentials, though often enough groceries and supper get passed off to another. 

Bigger picture, what is there? 
- Start a to do list.
- Make a daily check list. 

What else today?
- Plant the bulbs; there's snow in the forecast.
- Find my gloves. 
- Moisturize. 
- Feed the sourdough starter I got yesterday (like I need another responsibility). 

What else soon?
- Pay the bills.
- Do the laundry.
- A birthday present.

I feel so down. A week ago I felt optimistic. What's going on? 

Make a plan. Today I will:
- No. I'm stuck. It all seems too hard. You can do it. Make it easy. 
- OK.
- Easy supper: there's chicken in the freezer. make rice. buy some vegetables. 
- Cook it before pickup, so it's ready when he's hungry. 
- Maybe some caffeine before pickup, and hope that it helps.
- Make the bed, but don't wash it. No energy for that. 
- Wash some clothes, bring some up for the morning. 
- Feed the damn starter. Or just throw it out. 

How did this happen? I felt hopeful last week. It's nothing new. I just tend to avoid it.

OK:
- Grocery list: Milk, peppers, 

I need to lie down.

Monday 14 March 2016

Mommy is trying to hold it together

Here is a story. There are two parts.

Part I

My mom died seven years ago. She was young. I was young. My son was just a baby. 
He wasn't yet walking. He was my pride and joy. Still is. 
He kind of lost his mommy that summer too. He lost the mommy who had always been 100% his. Suddenly his mommy was gone on a plane, trying to get to a hospital in time to say all the things she wanted to say. So daddy packed up baby and they came on a plane the next day. But then mommy was grieving. Everyone was sad and crying. Mommy was going to funeral parlours and florists. Then mommy was writing a eulogy. Delivering a eulogy. Making small talk with people about death. God it breaks my heart. Baby was with daddy all week. Which isn't all bad. Daddy had never been responsible for baby for a week. But what it must have done to baby's heart to see mommy, here and there, running in and out, happy to see him but busy, busy, busy. 
Then mommy had to go back to work, bringing baby to daycare in the morning, crying, picking him up at the end of the day, and so on. Mommy was angry. Why was mommy's mom dead? And mommy was busy at the job that she hated. Mommy was busy trying to prove that she was good enough, day in and day out. Rushing to the daycare and getting baby into his snowsuit at the end of every day was challenging. There is an image in mommy's mind of that year and this is it: 
The tiles on the floor are terracotta. Smooth squares, burnt orange. Baby's snowsuit is on the floor, spread out like a star. It is bright blue on the outside, silvery on the inside. There in the middle of the star-shaped snowsuit mommy places baby. Baby is mommy's heart and joy. Mommy feels like a mess. Mommy is wearing a dark suit, pantyhose, and high-heeled boots. Actually she has had to remove her boots, because those are the rules. Mommy feels like Bambi, crawling on the floor, long arms, legs, bare feet. Mommy is trying to get baby into the snowsuit, but baby is fighting it. Baby is crying. Mommy is trying to hold it together. Other mommies and daddies walk past, to and fro, while mommy tries to get baby into the snowsuit and baby cries, night after night. Outside, baby refuses to go into his carseat. He resists, rigid. Mommy waits. One day mommy says okay. We can play in the snow. Mommy and baby walk in the snow for an hour. Mommy's feet are numb but she feels good: she is being a good mommy. Finally mommy leads baby back to the car. Baby refuses to go into the carseat. He goes rigid. Mommy is worn out. Mommy is sad. 

Part 2

Little one is now seven. Seven-and-a-half, maybe. That's as far as mommy is prepared to go with that. Because mommy doesn't want to believe that so much time has passed. That her beloved boy is growing up, and his mommy is STILL sad. And beloved, beloved boy seems sad too. Mommy cries hard just writing those words.
Mommy has a LOT of sadness and guilt and worry to work through. And whenever she gets close to it she cries and she gets scared, so usually she avoids thinking about it. It's hard to avoid the sadness, because it's inside mommy's body. It's in her brain, supposedly, and she feels it all over her body. It is awful. 
The most effective way mommy has to avoid it is social media: distracting mommy's brain with novel ideas and images. The problem is, mommy has a new job now: mommy is a housewife. Mommy got depressed and left her old job, which she hated. She was supposed to get well and get a different job, and she tried going back to school, but it went very badly and mommy even thought that it would feel good to be hit by a train. Finally, mommy said, the only job I ever wanted was to be a mommy. So this is mommy's dream job, but mommy is busy avoiding her thoughts almost all day long. I'll tell you this. It's really, fucking hard to be a successful housewife when you spend most of your time avoiding your sadness. Not a lot gets done around the house. A bit of weeping and curling up in bed. A lot of staring at screens until the funny images and friendly people and interesting stories there grab hold of mommy's brain and hold it tight. Mommy's brain temporarily forgets the pain and sadness. For just a little while (or as long as possible) mommy feels better. Until mommy has to stop staring at the screen. Mommy has to deal with reality, of course, eventually. And the reality is a mix of sadness and despair and fear and shame and guilt and it sucks. It is very, very hard. 
Mommy knows that she has
Mommy looked away from that sentence for a moment and now mommy has no idea what she was going to say. 
Oh yes. Mommy knows that she has to get better. Maybe not 100% "better" (because what is that?), but better than she is. Imagine if mommy could not be depressed and sad and anxious! Mommy has AD/HD or ADD or whatever they're going to call it in the next edition of the DSM, and that is not going to stop, but what if mommy could learn to manage it better. Imagine if mommy could be healthy and happy. Just imagine... Mommy can't imagine it. All she can feel is sadness. Mommy cries hard. 
Mommy has to try to improve though. Not only because this is awful and mommy feels so much guilt about it, about being a sad and anxious mommy with a messy house, but also, also, because what if mommy got worse? 
What if mommy got something life-threatening? This is a new fear for mommy; mommy's cousin has metastatic cancer and mommy knows so many people with cancer right now. It's not right. Mommy has been meaning to meditate and throw out all in the crap in mommy's cluttered cupboard and cook organic food, for more than a year. There is zero doubt that mommy wants to do this, but mommy hasn't made a single step towards that goal. Originally this was about cooking healthy food for little one. Now mommy sees that she has to stop poisoning herself and daddy, too, with the crap they put in so-called food these days. Little one needs mommy and they both need daddy. This thought, about food, is oddly comforting... Why? Because it is a distraction. Because thinking about cleaning out a cupboard and starting to bake is a fucking fantasy, and it's easier (easier!) to worry about GMO's over which mommy has little control, but can feel very worked up, than it is to worry about the fact that mommy is falling apart. Mommy knows how to avoid GMO's. That would be easy. 
It would be easy, if mommy weren't so fucking sad that she may or may not get dressed or make supper at all, let alone anything that requires a trip to the store and thinking and decisions. 
Mommy is fucked up and she is scared. 
She is scared to feel how she feels. She isn't scared of hurting herself. That's not going to happen. Mommy is loved and she loves her people so much. But she's scared that she won't be able to be a good mommy if she stops avoiding her feelings. That she'll be too sad. 

The End

......

More thoughts...

Mommy's psychologist is a wonderful therapist. He pointed out that mommy has been telling him that she wants to clean up her house for about 10 months. He wondered if maybe not cleaning up the house was enabling mommy to avoid something else...This was a very interesting question. The messy house causes mommy anxiety and grief, so why would she do that? 
There are layers of answers to this question. If mommy avoids the house altogether, or avoids seeing it even though she's in it, she avoids the horror of the messy house. However, mommy knows that when she decides to work on it, she is forced to face the fact that she can't possibly clean it up in one hour or afternoon or one day. It's frightening. It might take... more time than mommy has. It makes mommy feel anxious. Sometimes mommy works on it. It's very hard, she may start to feel less anxious as she works, but she feels sad and worried and scared.  
A possible answer came as mommy pondered the question. Mommy doesn't like to host because the house is messy and mommy is ashamed of the house. But maybe the messy house is a protective barricade. Mommy doesn't have to host if the house is a mess? Is mommy avoiding hosting? This doesn't seem to fit. Mommy used to like hosting. Mommy wants a clean house. Mommy does find hosting stressful though, but isn't that because of the messy house, and the distraction, and the sadness and pain... 
Does mommy avoid cleaning up the house because she doesn't want to go back to work? This might seem an answer because mommy won't go back to work unless the house is organized. But no, this is not the answer. Mommy feels such clear rejection of this answer that it is a little bit troubling. It seems like an obvious answer, but mommy doesn't think that this is the problem. Why not? Why doesn't this fit? Well, two things. 
First, mommy wouldn't be adverse to going back to work if mommy were healthy and well and the house was organized and she had laundry and grocery and cooking and bill paying and filing and all the other fucking routines (hmm) that mommy would need to cope with life, and if mommy had a job that let her still be an awesome fucking mommy because mommy loves her little one more than the sun itself. It's true! He is her beloved shining star and she wants to be here for him. Which, of course, she doesn't feel that she is adequately now, because although she's in the house all day, or picking him up, or taking him out, her mind and body aren't healthy. She's not all here. Okay where was mommy? Right, it's not work that mommy is avoiding, it's going back to work and having a complete fucking breakdown. Being "here" mentally is what mommy wants. 
Second... what was second... it's related, I think... There was another reason why mommy doesn't accept the idea that cleaning up the house is a way to avoid working... Right: getting on top of this house and running it well would actually increase the odds that mommy could continue not working if she chose. If she could get on top of the house, then she would have choices. She could keep kicking butt at being a SAHM, or she could work, or work part-time. It would all be ok. 
So, no, mommy does not buy the idea that she's sucking at being a housewife so she can not work. Au contraire, mommy is scared that if she continues to suck at not working, she might be pressured to try working while her home is chaos, and that is scary. So yes, the idea of working does scare mommy. It does. But that's not why she's not making progress on the house. 
Rather, mommy feels that this whole why-can't-you-clean-up-the-house topic is a distraction and wants to get back to the real issue. 

......

Because mommy had an epiphany last week. A scary epiphany. 
Mommy realized that she isn't just avoiding looking at the house. It's a lot bigger than that. The house is a red herring really. (Mommy used to be a lawyer and lawyers like red herrings. In analyses. Mommy doesn't eat herring. Mommy's never seen a red herring, but the grey ones look gross enough, oily, pickled things at a Dutch pier or worse, in a big, bland jar in the supermarket.)
Mommy's distracting herself again. She's fucking annoying that way. 
Okay mommy, where did that epiphany go? (Mental flashback to the coffeeshop where this happened, while working on homework for anxiety group therapy...) Just the flash, not the irrelevant distraction. Stop typing and let yourself remember. Even if it hurts. 
Right, I don't just distract myself to avoid seeing the clutter (although the clutter is upsetting and overwhelming.) No. 
I distract myself to avoid feeling my pain. The pain isn't (just) about the clutter. (For all I know the clutter is a way to avoid the pain too -- isn't that what they say about hoarding?) See, distracting myself again. No. No. No.
I (that's me, mommy) distract myself to avoid feeling all my pain and sadness. Not just the stuff around me. The stuff inside me. 
I realized this when I was working on my homework and I had to take off the blinders. I had to look at my feelings. And the pain came and it was scary. The pain is emotional pain. It's sadness. But it's so much more than sadness. It's a lifetime of fear and sad and scared and confusion and trying. Or something like that. I'm not really tapped into it now. Or rather, my door is shut. I'm distracted by typing, etc. 
What forced me to open the door was that anxiety group therapy homework, so I guess I should get back to it. 
It was so powerful to me at that moment, so much so that I expressed it in the group 30 minutes later, by which time it sounded trite or fake... it's so easy for it to slip away from me, but it hit me like a tidal wave when I was open to it.
Weird. 

......

I'm reminded of the day I blurted out in therapy that, "I stare into the computer screen to avoid seeing my life!" and made a little box around my face with my hands. 
I took this as an explanation of why I waste time online, but that missed the point, which is that I'm avoiding my life. A friend later asked, "What is it in your life that you're trying to avoid?" It struck me as a profound question, and I couldn't answer it.
I think, now, that I'm avoiding my emotional pain. It's that simple and that big.

......

The thing I realized last week is that I am full of pain and sadness, and I am afraid of it. I am afraid that if I feel it, I'll go under. I'll fall apart. I put on a happy face and out I go. So much so that sometimes I doubt myself. My depression is being treated, I'll tell myself. My mood is okay. Except that it isn't.
Each day I can worry about my ADHD or my anxiety or my mood or my son or other loved ones or the world (no end of worries there). And just typing that brings up a rush of anxiety. I'm scared, because in my heart I know that those are distractions. 
Then that next thought comes flying in -- no, no, think positive! Do the opposite thing! Don't wallow. 
I'm not wallowing. I'm avoiding. 
When I look at, really look at, what I've been avoiding, I start crying. 
Again, counter thought says, see, if you stop avoiding you start crying! So stop avoiding!
But it doesn't work that way. Even my dear, sweet husband said that. You can't keep avoiding it. You have to get in there and deal with it. 
Okay. That's my assignment. 







Tuesday 1 March 2016

Soccer moms are crabby for a reason, and it's got little to do with soccer.

Every parent has his or her own reasons. Here are some of mine.
My son was late for school again and it was all my fault.
I even gave the universe, the school rules, and my own self-esteem, a slap in the face by parking illegally in front of the school in a (failed) attempt to get him into class before the anthem.
I did this in front of my son.
If there's one thing that will make a smart mom crabby, it's letting down her own child.
Hmmm. I shouldn't blog. I should just write, for myself, so I don't start to feel self-conscious, hit delete, or wonder if I should save this as a draft and edit it because that's what bloggers do.
Some part of me wants to write in public though. I guess it's the part of me that doesn't want to be alone. That wants to hear, "Me too!" to be assured that I'm not the only shitty mom (delete), not-good-enough mom (delete?), guilty mom.
Am I the only woman paranoid (or just worried) that my husband will leave me and successfully sue for custody of our son just by pointing to my weaknesses?
I told him to see a psychologist because he was grumpy and stressed. He finally took my advice. Then he told me that the psychologist asked him why his wife is tired all the time and wouldn't he like it if I put our son to bed some nights instead of him? Fuck. You told another human being that you put our son to bed most nights lately? Did you tell her about the year that I put him to bed more than once a day by nursing him, alone, in a dark room?
I digress.
Bottom line, I feel like crap, and no I don't think that I should put this out there for the universe actually...
Soccer moms.
Oh yeah, today I spent an hour that I really didn't have responding to a friend's email that she's in town for the night and would like to get together, and how to fit this into my evening's schedule which is: pick up my child from school; cook and feed him supper and help him with his homework; emotionally and actually prepare for a parent association meeting at his school; transfer him to my husband during the meeting (childcare is provided) who will take him to an arena and get him ready to play hockey; rush from the meeting to the game; sit and watch my beloved boy block shots and try to block other shots; go home, get us ready for bed, and fall into bed.
Did I mention that I'm depressed and anxious and the last thing I want to add to this picture is responsibility to host an adult? That I'm teetering on the edge of hoarding and dread the thought of a visitor, let alone an accomplished, child-free, visitor?
I get over the guilt and suggest that she take a cab from her hotel to the arena and meet me there. She agrees. I feel relieved.
Complicating factor: my friend and her boss want to meet with my husband late this afternoon. So if she meets with him at the end of the day, it would be only reasonable for him to invite her to come home with him and have supper with us before I head to the meeting and they head to the arena... But I, the introverted, anxious, poor-housekeeper, can think of nothing worse. Can not handle this pressure. Well, I could if I HAD to, but with a painful stomach all day and chaos all around and failing to meet all of my other obligations and intentions today...
So I pass this stress on to my husband. Who is now going to a meeting with my friend and her boss at 3:00 p.m. and is going to try to avoid inviting her over for supper, just because his wife is such a basket case. He, the most sociable man in the universe... No wonder I get paranoid (or worried) that he'll leave me or fall out of love with me... I don't feel worthy.
......
Meanwhile, the clock is ticking, the day is shrinking.
Things still to do today, in no particular order:
  • Meet a different friend for lunch at noon. I have to leave in 25 minutes. (Note: This will not be fun. This is another source of anxiety. On the upside, it will also be a source of food, and I am seriously in need of nutrition.)
  • Buy groceries for my son's (and perhaps my husband's and friend's) supper.
  • Clean the kitchen -- fortunately I did this last night so it's not too bad. 
  • Print and read the school constitution and other documents in preparation for tonight's meeting. 
  • Wash my son's hockey long underwear, in time for it to dry this afternoon. 
  • Pick up my son at 3:30 p.m.
  • Gather and return the overdue library books. 
  • Pay the overdue bills.
  • Write to my cousin who has cancer. (I'm not piling this on to be maudlin. My dear cousin has cancer and lives on the other side of the world, and I'm overdue to write to her. I want to write to her. This takes time and focus and emotional energy that is currently in short supply.)
  • Do the homework and reading for my anxiety group therapy this Thursday. 
  • Help my son with his homework, make our supper, and eat together. 
  • Try not to feel extremely guilty about the fact that I don't want to invite my friend over for supper. What's she going to do? Eat in a restaurant by herself? Yeah, I feel extremely bad. But which stress is worse -- the stress of hosting on a stressful day, or the stress of avoiding it and making my husband and friend deal with the consequences? 
  • Get my son into his hockey long underwear and ready to go by 4:30. 
  • Go to the 5:00 meeting. (After that point it's all scheduled -- meeting; drive to arena; watch game; visit with friend; drive friend to her hotel; drive home; collapse; feel shitty because I (probably) still haven't written to my cousin; try to put it off another night because I need my sleep. 
  • Enjoy a walk outside in the sunshine. 
Some of these things are not going to get done today. The most important ones. The ones that involve looking after me.
Well, it's 11:41. Just enough time to throw the long underwear into the washing machine, throw on some moisturizer, pee, and race to the sushi restaurant.
fml


Monday 4 January 2016

Optimism

I’m feeling incredibly optimistic today. So much so that it’s a little… scary. Hello, mania? No, that’s just the adrenaline of getting by on very little sleep, soon to be supplemented with one non-stimulant AD/HD medication, one antidepressant/antianxiety medication, and a cup of tea. 
I shouldn't get ahead of myself here. It's not like I've paid the bills, nor can I even sit down at my desk.
However, I do have a bunch of reasons to feel hopeful.

  • I got my son to school early today. Early enough to play outside with his friends. Without stress. He was so thrilled when I reassured him that we weren’t going to be late, that he spontaneously threw his arms around my waist, pressed his happy face against my stomach, and squeezed.
  • A friend emailed me and asked if I want to walk with her at lunch regularly. I’ve barely been outside in a week and it’s sunny outside.
  • I watched a wild rabbit eating grass in my backyard.
  • I read a comprehensive, succinct, and hopeful post about ADD by a woman who accidentally posted it to her Facebook page, and decided to leave it there. Inspiring!
  • I’m on a clutter-busting roll here!
  • Yesterday I got really down about my slow progress and worried that my husband might leave me, solely because I felt ashamed and undeserving, but I made a good decision and went out and bought groceries and then I came to him in tears and told him that he will get “the real me” back and he looked at me with love and told me that he knows that and he sees progress and he wasn’t upset and his smile and words completely reassured me. He helped me make the supper I bought and we all had a good evening.
  • On my way into the grocery store last night I decided that every day I will do something, no matter how small, towards healing and moving forward. Something to feel good about, some positive step, no matter how small, every day. I think that this is about appreciating that small steps count, and giving myself reasons to be positive, as much as it is about getting there.  
  •  Last week I had the most helpful appointment I’ve ever had with my psychiatrist, thanks in part to my husband being there. The biggest thing that I took away from it is to think about and remember what makes me happy and to do more of those things.
  •  I resolved to use a spiral notebook for ongoing to-do list(s), notes, etc. Credit to my former coach, I guess: it’s a ‘one-book’, although it’s taken me 11 months to embrace the idea. I started to use it the week before Christmas, when I was finally shaken into crisis-prevention mode. I have it and now I have to use it. The first two lists should be things that make me happy and (other) things that I need to do.
  • I had a wonderful dream the other day. When I awoke I realized that I’ve been living "in a fog" for a long time. I remembered that I used to have more vision and enthusiasm, particularly regarding my physical surroundings. I didn’t always live in clutter and I wasn’t always fatigued.  

Oh, yeah – One more thing – 
...although, at that time, I had no dependents, little stuff, and only one role (law student or lawyer). Thinking on it now, the clutter started when I was living with a man who was very wrong for me, working very long hours in a job I hated. On the other hand, my teen bedroom was usually a mess... as was my poor mom's, and I know it bothered her.
Still, awakening from the dream I remembered that I used to feel more alive, enthusiastic, and optimistic. Remembering my past optimism strengthens my belief that I can feel that way again, but better... 
In my dream I had creative vision and guts, but then I was shaken by other influences.  I need to solidify my own ideas and gain the strength to disregard the opinions of others, real and perceived.  
I used to revel in my little homes. My first apartment was a tiny sanctuary. It was very spare, furnished with only a few things I chose. There’s a reason that my cluttered house drives me crazy. I need and deserve to regain a peaceful home. And now that I’m blessed to share it with two people I love who love me back and are awesome for me, they need and deserve a peaceful home too, even if the clutter doesn’t affect them as directly.
Okay, time to go for a walk in the sunny snow.