Girl Confessions: Link-Up

 

These are cleansing for me.

1. My dad leant me his vintage Asahi Pentax camera (actually all Asahi Pentax cameras might be vintage now…not sure about that). Super excited to learn how to shoot properly with film. It’s been years since I’ve used 36 mm. Film is more expensive to develop now so I’ll have to be more sparing with my photography but I’m excited to try a new kind of medium.

2.I am straight-up addicted to Caribou Coffee. I can’t explain it except that after about half a cup of this roast and I get insanely happy and energetic. Call it a crutch. Call it crack cocaine. #soworthit

3. I am finally doing the deep cleaning I have been longing for. That means de-cluttering the closets, completely re-doing the file cabinet, and re-imagining the office space/guest room. Pictures to come!

4. I love cooking but I seriously hate doing the dishes. And this makes me not want to cook. How sad is that?

5. My friend and neighbor Melissa moved to South Carolina last week and every time I walk downstairs and don’t see her car parked next to mine or her twinkle lights in the window, I get sad all over again. Bah.

6. I’ve pretty much had to put a moratorium on watching or reading the news. I grew up in Aurora, Colorado and I’ve had a permanent stomachache since Friday morning when we first heard about the shooting. I can’t fathom it. And I don’t want to go to the movies for a long, long time. I just don’t feel like it.

7. The Cupcake Project is one of my favorite places on the internet. And soon…these Jasmine Cupcakes with Raspberry and Honey will be mine. Oh, yes. I even found the much sought after raspberry vinegar the recipe calls for. Boom.

Feel like sharing your confessions? Link up below! No rules…just share your list. The link up will be open until July 30th.

 

 

love, elizabeth

Throwing the Switch: Seasonal Affective Disorder

Every winter, like clockwork, I. get. sad.

Like really sad.

It’s most difficult at night or on overcast days. Last winter, it was so bad, I started attending counseling. And I couldn’t figure it out. I didn’t understand why it was impossible to feel motivated, why I felt like curling up in a ball and crying in the evening hours, why all I wanted to do was eat or sleep, why I gained weight so quickly. I didn’t understand it, at all.

Until one day last February, when I woke up to the sun shining and the birds tweeting and an unseasonably warm winter day and I had the best day I’d had in months. I was singing in the shower. I was smiling at strangers. I felt like I had energy zinging from my fingertips and the ends of my hair.
It was like someone had flipped a light switch.

And when other people comment on the change in me, I knew there was a connection.
I feel a little like a mad scientist somewhere is screaming, THROW THE SWITCH, IGOR! THROW THE SWITCH!

Photo credit

Like any other kind of depression, seasonal affective disorder stems mainly from things outside of my control. I can’t send the heavy Ohio clouds away or keep the sun from going down by 5 pm all winter. Sometimes it feels like I’m stuck in a fog or weighed down by a heavy load of bricks. For someone like me who is constantly moving and doing, this lack of motivation is confusing and frustrating and disempowering.

This year, I’m trying to be more proactive about my SAD. I may not have control over the weather or the sun. But I do have some measure of control and I am determined to find it. More on that, next post.

Source: tumblr.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

Anyone else suffer from seasonal depression? How do you take care of yourself?

love, elizabeth