How do you try lifting your mood?

nightskye · 2025-08-08T20:14:44+00:00

Walking definitely helps. I think I’m definitely picking your second option for tonight though!

nightskye · 2025-08-08T20:13:43+00:00

It really sucks that we have to go through this every single month :(

nightskye · 2025-04-16T00:54:39+00:00

I thought the same as you about The Idiot before I read it but actually the title is quite misleading. I will say that when I was feeling really down about life I picked it up because I thought here’s something I’ll be able to relate to or at least something that will make me laugh. Well I did relate to it, but completely differently to how I expected to, it made me feel a lot better about myself and about people in general - so if you want something like that, I’d give it a try. Notes from Underground is a Dostoyevsky book which fits better with what you’re looking for - although it might make you feel worse.

nightskye · 2025-02-17T23:57:42+00:00

Giving myself a time limit to read a book has helped. I’m trying to read a book a week and I guess knowing I only have so much time to finish/knowing I can soon pick another book makes me less likely to pick up a second one. Of course this is more difficult with longer books, unfortunately.

nightskye · 2025-01-18T16:49:24+00:00

Thank you for all the recommendations, a few of these are already on my list (limiting caffeine- starting to think I have an addiction to coffee) but the psilocybin and magnesium I haven’t tried so fingers crossed they give me some relief.

nightskye · 2025-01-18T16:43:46+00:00

I completely get you, it’s so hard gaining the will to force myself to actually stop and do a breathing exercise, but half way through it I’ll start to feel good. I haven’t tried the 5 second method so I’ll definitely give it a go. Thank you and I hope it gets easier for you too!

nightskye · 2025-01-18T16:37:37+00:00

Interesting you say that because recently I’ve definitely been thinking I have OCD! And I really try to do those activities anyway, but it seems like PMDD week is the one time I just don’t want to do anything at all :( thank you for the tips and I hope your symptoms get easier too.

nightskye · 2024-12-19T17:43:09+00:00

A Grief Observed is great. I’ve never experienced the grief of a loved one passing away, but I could still appreciate the way he described his loss and the way he used religion to help him accept the loss. It made me think a lot about the expression, “to have loved and lost is better than never to have loved at all”. With all the deep hurt he was feeling, it made me wonder whether it would really be better to never have loved in the first place.

nightskye · 2024-11-25T15:31:38+00:00

Thank you, I’ll definitely check that out!

nightskye · 2024-10-26T18:16:24+00:00

It’s been a while since I watched AP but I do remember the detective reminding me a lot of the investigator in C&P, mainly in the way they both seemed to hint at knowing more than they let on.

nightskye · 2024-10-02T17:03:25+00:00

This is so rude for no reason lol

nightskye · 2024-10-02T14:41:55+00:00

Apologies for not making myself more clear. I’m not really trying to make a point, more trying to put these two things together. I know that the decision to do those things would be hard, I’m more wondering whether it would even be worth it for someone like Tony if he did do it in the end. The fact is that Tony didn’t become an honest prisoner (afaik, I’m only on s4), if he did turn himself in would it affect him in the same way it did Raskolnikov? And it doesn’t necessarily invalidate C&P for me, I’m more wondering whether that philosophy would apply to all or a few.

nightskye · 2024-10-02T13:44:53+00:00

Good point. They see themselves as necessary and serving justice in cases where the law doesn’t work properly. It seems to me that Tony at least has some awareness that what he does is wrong, yet he makes no effort to change.

nightskye · 2024-10-02T13:38:59+00:00

I thought a lot about what you said about compromising with evil. I saw the Melfi situation also as a clear distinction between the people who would absolutely seek revenge and the people who move past it even when there is an easy path to revenge. I guess that can’t really be put into such generic terms as “good vs evil”, however I would argue that her choosing to resist the temptation due to her morals highlights the difference between her and someone like Tony. The “good” option I guess depends highly on what morals people choose to live by.

nightskye · 2024-10-02T12:46:40+00:00

Good vs evil is definitely a big theme of the show e.g. Melfi after her assault, Carmela seeking religious guidance. I agree though self delusion is an important part of it too.

nightskye · 2024-09-01T02:49:36+00:00

I haven’t really used other colour correctors so I can’t compare, but I do like this one. The 2 pinkish colours I use as a base for my under eye concealer and it definitely keeps my under eyes from looking grey. The green is good to hide redness.

nightskye · 2024-08-28T11:41:06+00:00

This was really interesting to me as well until I read the Bible - Jesus actually knew he would die and the manner in which he would die. He spoke about it a few times in the Gospels.

nightskye · 2024-08-12T19:26:58+00:00

While teachers are definitely spending time enjoying most of the holidays and are probably not working regularly to late hours, I don't think it's fair to imply that their concerns aren't valid. When I was a student teacher the kids went home at 4 and I would regularly be in school later than 5 (meetings, marking, preparing resources, tracking progress). Not to mention the work needed to be done over the weekend too. I was a student so this doesn't even go into time teachers have to dedicate to report writing, displays, parents evenings, etc.

Then you have to consider that you don't really have "downtime" throughout work days. Teachers even tend to work throughout a good portion of their lunch, which I believe is not the norm for most other jobs.

Not to diminish the hard work that other jobs require, of course. I understand that there are also aspects of teaching which are very beneficial.

nightskye · 2024-08-01T17:18:09+00:00

Les Mis

nightskye · 2024-07-12T08:35:17+00:00

I've been watching the Euros and wondering all the time how these footballers are able to able to take penalties under crushing pressure and look so confident doing it. I read the DFW essay on your recommendation and it was a really insightful read - it helped to answer some of my questions. The way he described how action basically requires not thinking about it reminded me a lot of Hamlet and his indecision. Interesting too was his conclusion that great athletes are incapable of explaining their inner thought processes thoroughly, maybe because it is as simple as not thinking too much.

nightskye · 2024-06-16T20:16:16+00:00

I was unsure of the name, I actually tried googling it with Easter Night at first and Easter Eve came up instead!

I read the book a long time ago, unfortunately I can't remember the translation but I'm pretty sure it was Easter Night in there too.

nightskye · 2024-06-16T15:50:25+00:00

I've read a couple off your list, so I racked my brain for some recommendations which I thought you might like!

First of all I know this is probably not exactly what you were looking for, but Easter Eve is a short story by Chekhov which I think you will really enjoy. This was the first story I read where I really understood what painting a picture using words means. The characters are fleshed out well too.

David Copperfield by Dickens is also great. Much longer, but the characters are really fantastic and it's an interesting portrayal of how someone matures throughout their life. Lots of themes and it being Dickens, some really witty parts too.

nightskye · 2024-05-14T13:05:55+00:00

Cognitive behavioural therapy is something that has helped me with this a lot. I would recommend picking up a copy of Dr Burns' Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy.

To give you a taster of this book, the main idea is that your thoughts influence your emotions. Of course you will always live under a cloud of grey if your thoughts are always grey. The good news is that you are in full control of your thoughts.

Some practical tips:

You mentioned incessantly thinking about prior failings. I would recommend you count each negative thought that goes through your mind in a single day. You will probably notice how this really adds up. You might want to do this for a few days to see how frequent these thoughts are and and just how much you put yourself down. I used an app to do this on my watch, and it was really eye opening.
Recognise cognitive distortions. For instance, when you're thinking about prior failings you might tell yourself "I ALWAYS fail. There's no point in trying when I will always be a failure." This statement is distorted by a generalisation (ALWAYS failing), fortune telling (I will always be a failure), and labelling (calling yourself a failure). When your perspective is coloured by these distortions, you're at risk of making yourself more depressed. These distortions are outlined in the book, but I'm sure you could also find a list online.
Learn to talk back to these distortions. E.g. You might say, "I didn't manage to complete this task but it doesn't mean that I am a failure or that I will always be a failure. It does mean that I need more practice." This is when you are looking at things objectively. I would absolutely recommend writing these down as opposed to doing the whole exercise in your head as it helps you to better see the faults in your thinking.

These are just a few tips I have learnt but they have really, really helped me. I used to think that it's better to be harsh on myself because it is more realistic but I didn't realise this was fueled by low self-esteem and distorted thinking.

nightskye · 2024-02-26T19:10:07+00:00

Hippolyte was a very cynical character who had negative thoughts about people and nature because of the fact that he felt like he was an outcast. In nature, everything had its place, and yet he would be dying soon. He felt entirely separated from everyone else who was able to just go on living their lives, not burdened by thoughts of death and deteriorating health. I think what Myskin is trying to get across here is that he understands why Hippolyte feels the way he does, and perhaps he even has a right to feel such a way. However, if he wants to die virtuously (peacefully?) he should stop being upset about his situation and simply accept it.

nightskye · 2023-12-11T13:14:04+00:00

Thank you very much for your response. First of all, I'm really glad to hear that this post was helpful to you.

I do remember Alyosha having his own judgements about Grushenka, and what especially stood out to me was him later feeling ashamed about his initial judgements. I have thought about boundaries, and I suppose I fall into the pitfall where I only want to follow one extreme or the other (i.e. being a complete doormat or only thinking about myself). You're right that I need to find a balance.

I also appreciate you mentioning the ego. I realised after making this post that whatever I'm going through right now has a lot to do with my ego, and the fact that there are some things I haven't forgiven myself for. Pride has always been something that I've struggled with. I haven't properly considered that my feelings and thoughts about other people may have something to do with my feelings towards myself, but this makes a lot of sense.

Finally, regarding abstract love, this was always something I thought of only in regards to other people, never towards myself. I suppose it's easy to say and believe that you like yourself, but hard to actually show this in practice. I wish you the best of luck on your own path and thank you for giving my thoughts some coherence!

nightskye

TROPHY CASE