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Posts: 1,836Seems like the month of July is bringing in the blues. Outside of the TT support system what do you guys do to feel better? Has anyone read any good inspirational or motivational books lately? Any web sites that you frequent as a mental "pick me up" that you could share? Do you walk with your dogs or go shopping? Do you window shop, do you exercise, or break plates in the garage to relieve tension. What works for you??
I tend to look at the bright side most times. I'm always try to find the good in any situation. Over the past few years I've had quite a ride and if I let it take me down I think I'd still be down. I joke that " I'm the Truman Show"...that there must be camera's on me 24/7 because no one could have the luck, situations occur, or goofiness that IS my life unless it was for tv ratings. When I hit that funk a couple years ago I found a cool children's writing society and started to write. That small change of pace got me back to my studio and back to making bears. I write, read cookbooks...yes I will read a cookbook from cover to cover... and I go "antiquing". I don't need to buy anything I just love walking through shops filled with cool old stuff.
My favorite cook books are by Christina Pirello. They're set up with tons of info, so you can actually "read" them and they're all natural and organic based. Plus her life story since a cancer diagnosis is pretty darn motivational.
What do you do?? Maybe it could help out someone else too :hug:
~Chrissi
ebay, ctcatherwoods
coming summer2006...www.CatherWoods.com
Posts: 8,574everyone has to have some down time.
I exercise more than normal and cruise e-bay for something fun and cheap. I love bidding at the very last minute and seeing if I can get something...but i stick with really cheap fun things that I can actually use so that i do not spend a lot of money and it isn't wasted.
then I dress a golly. If I can get a poket gal golly dressed in an afternoon I don't feel like I wasted the day.
then I love to float in the pool and listen to the birds and the breeze in the pine trees- mostly Douglas Fir- and occasionally get dive bombed by dragon flies and bees.
Saw a really great dragon fly yesterday-= all black and white...so striking....Nope no piccy- I was in the pool....
then there is sucking on a bite of chocolate while reading a bubblegum mystery-love it!
or playing the piano-and if I am really down I can cry all the way through my favorite hymns and pieces....
hope you are feeling really better really soon
I tend to be on a pretty even keel but having no time off or spare cash sometimes gets me down.I put the dogs in the car and go off to my favourite place.It is a huge unused field next to the beach with a lovley river running through it.I sit on a hill watching the deer and bunnies and sparrow hawks while my dogs run themselves silly.I always come home brighter after that.I also look at vintage bears and toys on ebay but seldom buy anything.
Posts: 1,836Ew jeez, I should have clarified in my first post that I'm actually not blue (my life is running at it's typical nutty sitcomish self !) 
I just noticed that a lot of others were feeling kinda icky lately and I thought a topic about what we all do to feel better would either cheer folks up or give them a new way to de-stress, relax, or find a few minutes of mental peace.
So what do you all do??
LuxembearsHi Chrissy. I like to watch a DVD by Dr. Wayne Dyer called , "The Power of Intention." He has a wonderful way of showing you how to rethink the world around you in an extemely positive way. He has another one called, "Inspiration." Again...truely an amazing talk and a booster shot for renewed life. What a gifted man.
Apple Dumpling DesignsI have myself a good cry...seems strange but I always feel better afterwards...it's almost like a cleansing of the soul.
I also like to go for a walk and look at nature and really try hard to remind myself of all the good things I have to be thankful for. It sounds silly, I know.
I'm a pretty optimistic person most of the time and I know I can sounds whinny on here but that's because my heavy sarcasm just doesn't come through very well. 
Hugs,
ToadBriarsometimes making art leaves too much introspection time & I have to
go out & have new ingredients dumped into the mental stewpot!
You might laugh at my most recent obsession but I've really been having
lots of fun at it.
I have been wanting a metal detector for a good long time & got to buy one
for my birthday this year. We live on old farmland & so I have fun poking around
& digging up JUNK. Treasure hunting is fun - even if a lot of the stuff ya dig up is
shotgun shells or something - it's always interesting to find something hidden.
I get to learn about local history & how people lived years ago & research things.
I get to muck around in the dirt & have a ball!
Found an old quarter
& found what used to be the old farm rubbish pit. One of the intact
glass bottles says "AD Elmer's Pain Killing Balm - It Cures Like A Charm!"
& there was a milk glass cold cream jar from Larkin Soap in Buffalo NY, & a
bottle for "Gargling Oil", & as you can see, all manner of interesting old junk.
It's dorky but I have a lot of fun!
Posts: 1,836I love the idea of "treasure" hunting with a metal detector! I don't' see that as junk at all...it's historical to your home and I see things like this in my antiquing hunts all the time!
And I don't think it's dorky at all...it's very "Goonies" and that totally appeals to the 12 year old tom boy in me!!
very very cool. I just might have to see about getting myself a metal detector and get lost for a day in some of the hills around here......
~Chrissi
ebay, ctcatherwoods
coming summer2006...www.CatherWoods.com
Back Road BearsEat chocolate and ice cream.
Go shopping (if I'm in a really off mood I never buy anything as I talk myself out of it all!) and I love to go antiquing.
Read.... can't recommend any good self-help books but I love to read!!
Eat chocolate.
Call my mom.
Brush the dogs. Very therapeutic.
Organize..... resort the piles on my desk, resort the fabric and mohair in my closets. Resort the towels and sheets. Do laundry. I LOVE to do laundry. NOT ironing!
Eat chocolate.
Drink my favorite flavor of coffee.
Mountain Dreamer BearsGreat topic! Artistic people do seem to be prone to the blues and it's interesting to learn what helps other people get back up when they're feeling down.
Judy, I agree about 'The Power of Intention.' I've seen bits of it on PBS and it really is great stuff. I'd like to get the DVD myself one of these days.
I usually get a major case of the blues in late mid to late winter. A dose of S.A.D. I suppose.
I have a whole variety of self help techniques. Some work better than others. Some are more like symptoms than cures, like eating. 
I usually do eat comfort food. Cry. Read my Bible. Watch a favorite movie, preferable a funny one. Read a good novel or a good inspirational book. 'Captivating' by John and Stasi Eldredge is a wonderful book I would highly recommend for women. Especially any woman feeling bogged down by duty, chores and taking care of everyone else while the desires of her own heart have been pushed so far into the closet, they are all but forgotten.
If I'm down and angry I CLEAN! Not that I don't keep my house fairly clean and tidy most of the time but if I'm upset I scrub everything in sight within an inch of its life! If you ever come to see me unexpectedly and my house is spotless, you know I've been in 'mood' 
!!! 
I spend so much time at home that now and then I just have to go somewhere besides the doggone grocery store. It doesn't matter much where: window shopping in a different town, a craft mall, antiquing, yard sales, or just a drive in the country. Sometimes just a change of scenery helps to get things back in perspective.
Exercise is a good outlet for me too. Getting outside in the fresh air, walking or gardening, and really focusing on my surroundings and noticing the beauty all around me almost always makes me feel better.
One of my very best self 'medications' for feeling blue is music, music, music! It is so powerful. 'Walking on Sunshine' is almost impossible to listen to without feeling better!
Sometimes, if I'm really depressed, I'll play sad, mopey, boo-hoo music and really just wallow in my misery for an hour or two 'till I'm utterly sick and disgusted with it. Then I play something upbeat and cheerful and I'm ready to get up and do something positive (like work on a bear 
) and before you know it ,I'm feeling great. :dance: :dance:
Baird'sBears:crackup: I had no idea anyone else cleaned when angry! :crackup:
There's nothing quite like attacking the inside of your oven with a single edged razor blade
Since we got our energetic Border Collie, Bear, I've been spending 3 hours or more with the dogs in our local park every day, lately at 6 am and 6 pm. It's right at the end of our block, 400 acres of green, much of it unspoiled woods. We're all much saner for the rest of the day.
Otherwise, I google whatever strikes my fancy, window shop on eBay or order from Intercal!
