Excellent post Lisa; I can relate to much of it. The past 6 months I believe I’ve been depressed due mostly to a terrible end to what I had thought was a fantastic relationship. It’s funny, my art took less of a hit as it was the only thing that I could throw myself into and still maintain an ounce of self-esteem. My professional life as well as my personal life crumbled; I felt as if I had “loser” tattooed on my forehead. Most days are better now, and I’m getting my feet back on the ground.

I agree with your remedies: exercise, diet, I self-treat with acupressure (no substitute for the needles, but better than nothing). I would also add that for me, meditation has been very helpful (massage can give you a form of meditation, too). Although I’ve never previously been big on affirmations, the Louise Hay book, “You Can Heal Yourself” has been very helpful and in some ways eye opening. Don’t agree with everything there, but amazingly helpful to me.

Congrats on starting to get back in the saddle again!

One of the things I’m learning to do when I derail is to write about all the garbage swirling in my mind. Once that’s out of the way, I write about what I’m going to do, how I’m going to do it, what obstacles may be in the way, listing ways I can go over, under, around or through those obstacles, accepting the limits that may come with said obstacles. Journaling helps to calm the hateful voices/thoughts and refocuses me on where I’m going and WHY. I also write a gratitude list for what is going right, what I can do, etc. to remind me there’s good even in the worst of moments.

Balance – as necessary as oxygen, ever changing and ephemeral.

Welcome back!