Wednesday, September 28, 2016

The Temptation to Complain

   When I sat down to write this blog, I thought about complaining because I've been under the burden of depression again for quite a while. I began to take an inventory of my life and realized I have absolutely nothing to complain about. Sure, things could be better, but they could also be a whole lot worse.
   I have a roof over my head, food on the table, and I'm in fairly good health for my age. I can no longer do the things I used to enjoy, but have found something new to fill my time and a number of new friends as a result. Writing stories has opened up a whole new world for me.
   While it is impossible to enjoy anything while depressed, at least I've avoided the temptation to zone out in front of the TV or game console. I force myself to sit down and think about my stories and struggle to put something down on paper. I may fill only a single page with words, but it does give me a slight sense of accomplishment.
   I've gotten involved with Saturdayscenes again in an effort to pressure myself into creating something new every week for the second book of the series I started. The experiment in writing scenes out of sequence is working so far as I've made some progress there as well. It remains to be seen how much trouble I'll have later on arranging all these scenes in the proper order, but at least they'll be written.
   For my friends who I know also have to deal with depression, you have my sympathy and understanding. Who knows, we might wake tomorrow, the dark cloud will have dissipated, and we can live life again.
   Thanks for reading.

2 comments:

  1. I understand your situation as it mirrors my own to some degree. It's been a rough week, the son came down sick, then me, then the wife and now the dog (bedding in the washer as I type).

    What I find most dis-concerning is the ebb in energy. I like to write in the evening when all is quiet. I can only do that couple days a week because after I'm a few hundred words into it and on a roll it's 11 PM. If I go to midnight I'm nearly worthless the next day.

    Have a great weekend. See you week after next.

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  2. Hi, Roland -- Here's wishing you the best. I went through a serious bout of depression several years ago, bad enough to be medicated and put on suicide watch. Thank God I haven't been that low or even close to it since. Like Jerry said, the lack of energy is disconcerting, especially if it's a chronic problem. If you're cranking out stories and books at a good pace, you're well ahead of the rest of us. Happy writing.

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