Doldrums Strategy

#45 Sweet Peace:

A few days ago, I woke up in the doldrums. Nothing major, just paper cuts; but still they hurt and left me depleted. I went down familiar paths … wandered into Facebook Reels, my go to mindless place when energy is low; drifted from refrigerator to pantry in search of sugary carbs; sighed greatly; called a friend who sent me a “Choose Hope” button; wondered about the value of life.

After years of gratitude journaling, I recognized the landscape. I had been here before. Something had triggered this particular slide. A distant friend had died; sad, but not unexpected. Dreams of an old love had haunted my sleep; a recurring signal of feelings of loss and disappointment.

Clearly, I was feeling a loss … but, of what? My life is pretty darn wonderful: I live in a place that I fell in love with decades ago, I have friends I cherish, my health is amazing, and writing and making art bring me joy.

Where’s the fly in this ointment?

It took three days of journaling before I recognized the loss as a mild form of postpartum: feeling sad or empty after giving birth. Somewhat similar to being pregnant, my job for the past year and a half has been to give birth to Gratitude Mojo. Now it was out in the world and I was feeling a somewhat weird form of abandonment; I was in a doldrum.

Doldrums are places or times when everything is stalled. There is no wind in our sails. We’ve all been there and, most likely, we’ll be there again.

While understanding that I wasn’t on a downhill slide into clinical depression brightened my world, it also made me realize that I needed a more formal strategy for dealing with the doldrums of the future … a way to shift the pattern.

So, here’s the strategy I’m pinning to my mental bulletin board:

1. Trust that this, too, shall pass.

2. Honor emotions and feelings and look for trigger events.

3. Gently shift focus with naps, nature, and nurturing indulgences.

4. Make gratitude lists.

How do you deal with doldrums?

*** The Sweet Peace series began in January of 2022 as a 52-week commitment to finding peace with food and body and has gradually expanded to include all aspects of my life. Archives of the first 44 weeks are stored on JoyceWycoff.com.

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In good times and challenging ones, practicing gratitude helps us recognize the good things in our lives and build resilience for the challenges that come our way. Gratitude journaling is one of the best ways to better understand yourself and deepen your practice of gratitude.

Gratitude Mojo, the workbook/journal is designed to guide you to a better life, in whatever way you define it. It comes as a printable pdf with paid subscriptions … and also includes a copy you can gift to a friend. We’ll write more about the transformative process of doing this work with a friend in future posts.