Outer lightnings to Inner darkness!

‘ Depressed? That’s a very negative word. I would say I am just a little off today’, I am sure a lot of you must have heard or said this once or more. I have said this to be honest, not to anyone else maybe but to myself a lot of times. And it’s not that difficult to actually admit that you are sad or need help in terms of talking to someone. But social media has made it so difficult nowadays for anyone to come out loud about how hard it has become to keep going. And that is mainly because most of us have become so scared about how people will patronise when they get to know that someone is not feeling good or “Depressed”.

Well I am not here to talk about depression or the side effects of it. I know it’s a real thing and no matter how much I tell you not to worry about it, I know you will still think about it because it’s you who is suffering and I will have to be in your place to understand the situation and then give an advice. I’ve
felt low so many times and everyone used to tell me, “Don’t
worry, everything will be just fine!” How do you know
everything will be fine? How can you be so sure??…So I know that it’s on me to come out of it by myself and I am here to talk about some of the little things that we ignore in our daily lives but have proved to be really effective in making me feel better.

1. Switch On that Extra Tube Light

I remember when we had guests at our place, my mother would ask me to light up the house by switching on all the lamps and lights. Or maybe on diwali we light lanterns outside our house and switch on the fancy lamps and put on some bright lights outside the house. I thought maybe it’s just a part of the traditions to be followed. Little did I know there was a deeper meaning attached to it.

Having guests at home, celebrating diwali, or maybe marriage are all happy moments. These are the things that make us happy. And one thing that is common among all these celebrations are bright shiny lights. That’s because we have programmed our minds in a way that we feel if we have a happy moment we need to have the lights in the house a little brighter. This works the reverse way too. Now this is really a very small thing but believe me, just switching on those lights in your house more than normal or maybe switching on those fancy lamps meant for festivals does bring some happy vibes.

Now this is my thought on how it works, I don’t know if it makes sense to you or not. But our subconscious mind has attached brighter lights with happy moments. Now if you just switch them on for no reason, it will still think that we are having some happy moment and that’s why all the lights. Maybe just a little bit but this will definitely help if you try.

2. That song from road trip

Music has always been treated as a cure for everything and it wouldn’t be fair if we do not consider it. Has it ever happened to you that some song played on your headphone and you start thinking about some random memory. Many a times this happens with me that whenever I listen to ‘Khaabon Ke Parindey’ from ZNMD, it reminds me about my Goa trip with my close friends and then I just keep on thinking about all the “weird” things we did there. I am pretty sure you are relating to this now.

Again, I think maybe just like lights, we attach songs to a particular memory because at the time when we were living that moment, that song was playing in the background. And so whenever you listen to that song again you will always get at least a single thought about that moment. This is actually very helpful when you feel low. You just play the song, forget about your present for a while, think about the past and smile like an idiot.

I have always resorted to music as my first option when I am feeling low and I suggest you to give it a try. Before that, I would say find your ‘Khaabon Ke Parindey’ and if you don’t have one, it’s still not too late to make one for the future.

3. There is no such thing as ‘Enough Momos’

The way to someone’s heart is through his/her stomach. Instead I would say, A happy stomach is the way to a happy life, healthy heart and the prettiest smile. Food is unarguably the easiest way to feel happy. Like there have been times when I have been crying and feeling depressed whole day long and still went outside to buy a plate of momos with extra mayo. I also love going to treks. I know going to a trek will make me happier, but can I go to a trek on a Wednesday evening and when there are actually none in a 100 kms radius around me? Well I think I cannot. But what else do I love which will make me happy? Momos. Can I go out and buy myself some momos without wearing sport shoes and sweating like a pig? Yes, I can.

I cannot always bring our subconscious mind in the argument but I guess by now you must have got the answer to how food can make you feel happy in low times. It’s not just the taste that makes us feel good, It’s kind of a rewarding feeling when we feed our body with something that we love. And I also read somewhere that eating something in a difficult situation is a good way to feel happy because the brain will think that you wouldn’t be eating in a difficult situation so maybe everything is alright. Like what even!! But until and unless it supports my ideology, I am gonna believe that this is true.

Also do remember, when Ranbir in Rockstar was going through the pain of the girl rejecting him, he still said ‘Itni si chutney me 2 samose kaise khau?’

4. Binge watching Schitt’s Creek again, seriously?

It’s time we appreciate cinema and television industry more than usual because they are not just to entertain. They have helped me a lot lately to feel good about myself. I am addicted to watching meaningful movies and TV shows and I am proud of it. If we ignore some cringe, I feel there are a lot of times when you relate to a certain character from a movie or a series. And when things turn out to be good for them, I feel good about myself. Maybe it makes me believe that things will turn better for me too with time.

Also, I do love Schitt’s Creek and I have binged it like 3 times now in the last 3 months. If you have some more suggestions like this do write in the comments and do ping me if you need my suggestions.

If you have read till here and if you were feeling low before, I hope I have helped you a little and now you will be more appreciative towards these little things that are striving constantly to bring light to your inner darkness.

We don’t want to feel like that, we just cannot help but overthink some things. That overthinking is what depression is all about. However I can tell you that even smaller things than what I wrote have the power to help you out. For eg, the next time when you feel low and someone asks you what happened, Instead of saying ‘Nothing I am just feeling a little low’ try saying ‘Nothing I am just temporarily feeling a little low, I will be better in some time’ and if it doesn’t help you a bit, I will throw that plate of momos away.