These days it's way too easy to get depressed about stuff we can't really do anything about. Thankfully things like The Cure help all of us focus on the things we can change for the better. Jump below for 4 simple ideas for channeling the burst of energy and happiness that comes with the onset of spring into the rest of the season, despite what the news is saying:
4 Simple Things To Keep You Smiling
1. Get yourself some happy fabric (this one is from Ikea and is inexpensive) and go outside! Use it for picnics or as a tablecloth or something to lounge on. Plan to spend an afternoon in a park or go to the beach or go for a hike and then lounge around; just get outside. These kinds of activities are pretty close to free and you can invite friends along to really enjoy the season. I bought an Orla Kiely tablecloth from Target just to motivate me to make plans to sit on it outside all spring and summer.
2. This Optimism Spray might not automatically jar you out of a funk and it may be a little airy fairy, but the sentiment is a good one. Take a moment, take a deep breath and smile. Good smells remind us of good times and deep breaths help shake a darker mood. Is there a smell you can bring into your home that will make you smile? Like finding islands of silence in your day, focus on the small pleasures in your home like identifying your favorite things.
3. Send a letter! I recently started corresponding by handwritten note with a couple of friends and it boosts my mood every time I send one off or receive one. Fancy notecards can get expensive so, instead, invest in some fun retro looking airmail envelopes and regular lined (or graphed) notebook paper. It was one of my Resolutions this year to keep in better touch with people--by letter and also by inviting people over, so this makes me feel good and keeps me connected to a wide circle of people.
4. All In Good Time. Since I moved in with my bf, the house hasn't really looked like what I want it to. This can cause oceans of dissatisfaction that really only patience can dissolve. Along the lines of Rome wasn't built in a day, making a home takes time, building a comfortable nest takes time. It helps to visually be reminded to take it all in stride.
What are simple and/or cheap ways that you switch yourself out of a funk or keep the focus on the things you can do something about instead of all the fear that swirling around? Do you media fast? Play boardgames? Indulge?
Comments (8)
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To get out of my funks while the husband has been deployed to Iraq (home on Saturday!) I'd open a window if the weather was nice, put on some soothing music, and knit something that requires my concentration.
I love and fully recommend knitting for everyone, male/female, adult/child-everyone! You can make it as easy or as difficult as you'd like, you are in complete control at all times, and if there is a mistake, you can take it out and start over. ALSO- if you break down the cost of yarn and needles into the time spent knitting, it's cheaper entertainment per hour than even renting a movie. Saving money feeling in control feeling happy=win.
view bugsywife's profile
thanks bugsywife and glad your hubby's home soon!
view laure's profile
That print is cool, but I don't need to spend 125 to feel better.
view inkstainedwriter's profile
I love airmail envelopes! Hard to find cool ones though, and those are a might expensive for me. Wonder if I could just make my own... hmmm....
view Miss Jess's profile
ok so point number four is just freaky (probably not and SO many people probably feel this way, but you know sometimes you read something and you think "omg they are totally speaking to me!!"
I just moved in with my boyfriend two. Only been here about a week. And obviously we still haven't settled in, and it is my first time moving out so I am trying my super best to get eveything just right and now I want it (I have literally been glued to apartment therapy, I have no idea what I would have done without this amazing website!)
And well yes, I am obviously A LONG way from being "finished".
Today when I was unpacking some artwork (ahh yay I put up my first picture!) I found a drawing I bought saying "these things take time". I need it up on my walls NOW because, just like the picture you show, it is a super important message.
x
view art4friends's profile
A funny or compelling audiobook, an open window, and cross-stitch, either freeform or a pattern! Keeping your hands and mind busy.
Sometimes I plan fake trips to visit LA, look at pictures of LA, remember my life there. Surprisingly it doesn't depress me I'm not there, it just reminds me how absolutely happy I was there, and also allows me to notice the things around me here that almost but not quite match - a rare blue sky, a nice breeze, sitting in a sunbeam.
Also, dancing enthusiastically just this side of hurting yourself to songs you haven't heard in a while.
And sometimes I just daydream I'm a superhero and have to save the world, with style and sass, and everyone at work who doesn't acknowledge how often I really do save them is in awe of my super skills. :)
view That70sHeidi's profile
Rearrange your own artwork and accessories. It's free. It's fun. It gives a fresh perspective on your room and your accessories. I discover my own favorite things all over again, and as the title of this page says it's a simple thing that makes me smile.
view MaeEast's profile
art4friends--awesome, glad i'm not the only one!
Heidi--yes yes and yes!
MaeEast--I'm currently rearranging the entry way and living room so I am in complete agreement!
view laure's profile