I cry. I take a walk. I talk to my husband. Sometimes I write. I have a glass of wine. If I'm angry too, I slam The Da Vinci Code down on the kitchen table several times, really loud. (I keep it on the shelf for just this purpose.)
I try not to cry because I'm afraid it won't stop. I write. I swim naked. I put on an album that I don't care that other people hate and listen to it really loud and dance hard on a soft rug by myself until I'm sweaty and out of breath. Tori Amos's "Little Earthquakes" is really good for this. I put my ear up against Jonah's chest to listen to him purr. If all else fails I resort to internet tv shows about the hero's journey, like "Legend of the Seeker" or "Angel."
I sleep a lot. I cuss a lot. I drink a lot of beer. Actually, I think I cuss a lot while drinking a lot of beer and then I sleep... I play with my pets. I take the dogs for a zig zag walk (they both pull like crazy and go from side to side.) I'm going to buy a copy of The Da Vinci code for further sad episodes. Thanks, Kate!
I find something soft to cuddle up with--my wife if she's around, or the dog if she isn't. It's great to have a wife. It's great to have a dog that doesn't shed.
Kristen- There are three things I forgot to mention. (I like your question.)
Giving up: walking away from an unfinished thing, giving yourself permission to leave something incomplete. I think of Scarlett's last line in Gone with the Wind: "Tomorrow is another day."
Wine: copious amounts of wine, sometimes the slight headache the next day is worth the glorious numbing of sadness for a few hours. Not as a lifestyle, as a band-aid.
Howling: I have been howling a lot lately. Sometimes at what others might consider inappropriate times. Open your throat, make loud rolling sounds. Give over your voice to the feral. Be loud and mournful like a wolf. Sing the longing.
I will be practicing all three of these things tonight.
I cry. I talk to Karl. Sometimes I drink red wine. Or I watch Columbo episodes. I lay down and read occasionally. I find exercise is one of the better responses. Writing too. I have been known to open my Positrons label/folder in Google (a folder with emails I save that make me happy pretty much exactly for this reason. Several of you are in there at least once). I think about how many things make me a fortunate human being. Music also--muy importante for Poe sadness.
Things are more volcanic when I'm angry or stressed. I'm trying to change this. It takes quite a lot to make me angry.
I'd like to say my immediate response to anger or sadness is meditation, but I am not consistently/quite there yet.
Memory: When I was nineteen and both sad and angry, I threw a phone across the room, busted it into pieces and went out and ran four miles. I ran past the field where we had gotten hallucinogenic mushrooms among cow poop. But that's another story.
Thanks for this question Kristen Stone. I thought about it all the way to my dinner destination in NYC and then again on the train ride home. I am appreciating everyone's answers.
I cry. I take a walk. I talk to my husband. Sometimes I write. I have a glass of wine. If I'm angry too, I slam The Da Vinci Code down on the kitchen table several times, really loud. (I keep it on the shelf for just this purpose.)
ReplyDeletethanks kate. that's a good reason to have a copy of the davinci code.
ReplyDeleteI try not to cry because I'm afraid it won't stop. I write. I swim naked. I put on an album that I don't care that other people hate and listen to it really loud and dance hard on a soft rug by myself until I'm sweaty and out of breath. Tori Amos's "Little Earthquakes" is really good for this. I put my ear up against Jonah's chest to listen to him purr. If all else fails I resort to internet tv shows about the hero's journey, like "Legend of the Seeker" or "Angel."
ReplyDeleteI sleep a lot. I cuss a lot. I drink a lot of beer. Actually, I think I cuss a lot while drinking a lot of beer and then I sleep...
ReplyDeleteI play with my pets. I take the dogs for a zig zag walk (they both pull like crazy and go from side to side.) I'm going to buy a copy of The Da Vinci code for further sad episodes. Thanks, Kate!
I find something soft to cuddle up with--my wife if she's around, or the dog if she isn't. It's great to have a wife. It's great to have a dog that doesn't shed.
ReplyDeleteWork out! Usually a dance workout, sometimes yoga, sometimes strength training. Sometimes a combo.
ReplyDeleteTalk to friends/family/lover. I have the best best best of each.
Play the guitar and sing. Sometimes, singing is more cathartic then crying.
Watch a favorite TV show (LOST, That 70s Show, Trailer Park Boys).
Cry. Because I don't have control over it. I just cry. All the time. About everything. And Kristen: sometimes it doesn't stop. And then I:
Go the the beach. Cure all.
Oh! And meditate!!!
ReplyDeleteRod Stewart's "Forever Young." Super duper loud. It's hard to be sad when Rod wants me to be happy.
ReplyDeleteKristen- There are three things I forgot to mention. (I like your question.)
ReplyDeleteGiving up: walking away from an unfinished thing, giving yourself permission to leave something incomplete. I think of Scarlett's last line in Gone with the Wind: "Tomorrow is another day."
Wine: copious amounts of wine, sometimes the slight headache the next day is worth the glorious numbing of sadness for a few hours. Not as a lifestyle, as a band-aid.
Howling: I have been howling a lot lately. Sometimes at what others might consider inappropriate times. Open your throat, make loud rolling sounds. Give over your voice to the feral. Be loud and mournful like a wolf. Sing the longing.
I will be practicing all three of these things tonight.
I cry. I talk to Karl. Sometimes I drink red wine. Or I watch Columbo episodes. I lay down and read occasionally. I find exercise is one of the better responses. Writing too. I have been known to open my Positrons label/folder in Google (a folder with emails I save that make me happy pretty much exactly for this reason. Several of you are in there at least once). I think about how many things make me a fortunate human being. Music also--muy importante for Poe sadness.
ReplyDeleteThings are more volcanic when I'm angry or stressed. I'm trying to change this. It takes quite a lot to make me angry.
I'd like to say my immediate response to anger or sadness is meditation, but I am not consistently/quite there yet.
Memory: When I was nineteen and both sad and angry, I threw a phone across the room, busted it into pieces and went out and ran four miles. I ran past the field where we had gotten hallucinogenic mushrooms among cow poop. But that's another story.
Thanks for this question Kristen Stone. I thought about it all the way to my dinner destination in NYC and then again on the train ride home. I am appreciating everyone's answers.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you do when sad, Kristen?
ReplyDeleteoh, forgot to mention (though perhaps it goes without saying?) that copy of The DaVinci Code needs to be hardcover. Try it, it works!
ReplyDelete