Losing Myself in Distraction
It is funny that it has been exactly three months since I stopped writing and blogging. Maybe this post should indicate that was more a break than an actual stop. If you go back and read through my August posts it is clear that I was struggling to maintain a positive, healthy mental state. Looking back I am certain that I made both good and bad moves to try and do something about it. I didn’t realize I was losing my connection to myself. The big lesson from quarter four of 2023 (and maybe the entire year) for me has been that treating the symptoms of a problem is not the same thing as getting healthy. To belabor that metaphor, you can keep a cough under control with enough Luden’s Wild Cherry and DayQuil, but if you don’t get antibiotics to cure the underlying infection you are going to stay sick. I have spent quite a lot of time and money treating the symptoms of my stress, depression, and unhappiness. The underlying infection was just festering and spreading. That is what really d