Merry Christmas/Happy holidays.
I seem to have survived the bulk of the Christmas season without suffering too much Christmas music. I'm actually going to assume the wedding is responsible for that, and the honeymoon after it, rather than any real work on my part or people somehow celebrating Christmas less. On at least one occasion I helped things along by putting in my noise canceling headphones and playing music over the offending music.
I'm not even slightly sorry. I respect that other people like Christmas music. I really really don't. I tend to encourage people to enjoy what they enjoy, but maybe if it's music, maybe use headphones in case other people are trying to concentrate or don't enjoy the same thing. Kinda unavoidable in craft sales, shopping malls, and other places of business, though.
Michigan is doing its usual winter thing. It's grey, cold, and either rainy or snowy depending on the specific temperature. We've gone into single digits on the Fahrenheit scale already, and I expect that to repeat at least twice before the end of January. Other than the evergreens, the trees are skeletal versions of themselves, leafless and almost black against the grey sky.
Suffice it to say I'm kind've wishing the honeymoon had a part 2. The differences in climate between the Dominican Republic and Michigan are astonishing. But it's not like I've lived in a lot of different climates. Lots of places in the US, but I never got further south than West Virginia, and never further west than Minnesota. So still a fairly small chunk of the US.
I guess my visits to Greece, Mexico, and southern Canada didn't sufficiently alert me to the differences in places. Mexico was a long time ago, though. It would have stood the best chance of helping me recognize that not all climates are like the ones I'm used to.
Life is slowly putting itself back to normal. I have yet to reestablish exercise routines, which is probably not helping my anxiety levels. I've not had much luck keeping an exercise schedule this year, to be honest, even tying it to others' schedules. I'm anticipating a change in that once my parents move here, because they're both pretty reliable and motivated to exercise. I'll piggyback on their motivation and get to see them regularly to boot. I'm looking forward to it.
In the meantime, I'm managing my anxiety chemically. My mother reports success using GABA, which is a brain chemical that basically calms down brain processes. So with my doctor's direction, I'm taking that. It seems to be working. I haven't had the sensation of grinding gears in my brain, or flashes of anger about small things, or foggy useless worry about things in the future.
The best time to start change in one's life is always "now," though, so I'm going to work on exercising solo.
I seem to have survived the bulk of the Christmas season without suffering too much Christmas music. I'm actually going to assume the wedding is responsible for that, and the honeymoon after it, rather than any real work on my part or people somehow celebrating Christmas less. On at least one occasion I helped things along by putting in my noise canceling headphones and playing music over the offending music.
I'm not even slightly sorry. I respect that other people like Christmas music. I really really don't. I tend to encourage people to enjoy what they enjoy, but maybe if it's music, maybe use headphones in case other people are trying to concentrate or don't enjoy the same thing. Kinda unavoidable in craft sales, shopping malls, and other places of business, though.
Michigan is doing its usual winter thing. It's grey, cold, and either rainy or snowy depending on the specific temperature. We've gone into single digits on the Fahrenheit scale already, and I expect that to repeat at least twice before the end of January. Other than the evergreens, the trees are skeletal versions of themselves, leafless and almost black against the grey sky.
Suffice it to say I'm kind've wishing the honeymoon had a part 2. The differences in climate between the Dominican Republic and Michigan are astonishing. But it's not like I've lived in a lot of different climates. Lots of places in the US, but I never got further south than West Virginia, and never further west than Minnesota. So still a fairly small chunk of the US.
I guess my visits to Greece, Mexico, and southern Canada didn't sufficiently alert me to the differences in places. Mexico was a long time ago, though. It would have stood the best chance of helping me recognize that not all climates are like the ones I'm used to.
Life is slowly putting itself back to normal. I have yet to reestablish exercise routines, which is probably not helping my anxiety levels. I've not had much luck keeping an exercise schedule this year, to be honest, even tying it to others' schedules. I'm anticipating a change in that once my parents move here, because they're both pretty reliable and motivated to exercise. I'll piggyback on their motivation and get to see them regularly to boot. I'm looking forward to it.
In the meantime, I'm managing my anxiety chemically. My mother reports success using GABA, which is a brain chemical that basically calms down brain processes. So with my doctor's direction, I'm taking that. It seems to be working. I haven't had the sensation of grinding gears in my brain, or flashes of anger about small things, or foggy useless worry about things in the future.
The best time to start change in one's life is always "now," though, so I'm going to work on exercising solo.
Hoping that that GABA continues to work well for you!
ReplyDeleteJudy