List No. 1: In case of Emotional Emergency (written by a bonafide AngstyTeen™)

This isn't the first list I've had on here. Do I care? A bit. Enough to edit previous lists to demonstrate, in their titles, that they do, in fact, precede this one? Nope.


Hello, and welcome to my blog, occasional whirlpool of laziness, ignorance, and existential crises. Like many other people, I have periodic emotional/existential calamity, in which the main issue, that grim problem from which all the other problems stem, is: 


1. Not knowing what is wrong, and 
2. Having the frantic need to do something about it... EVEN though you don't know what "it" is

The episode is usually followed by Why was that such a big deal? You didn't need to overreact so much... This situation invariably repeats itself. And we humans, or really, most living things, will invariably learn from repetition. 

Yesterday I trekked with my energy beast dog to a very green (important) location and composed this list in actual-pen-and-paper fashion (also important). The ink smudged and whorled in the drizzle. Glorious.


What to do when LIFE...

  1. Get off the device/book/tv/music/homework/whatever
  2. Drink a drink of water, keep drinking until the gulps turn to sips.
  3. Recognize that you have enough time to chill out. There. is. time. You don't have to have everything figured out right now, today, or this month.
  4. Pray, a quick ~help me, Lord~ is great.
  5. Get outside, preferably somewhere green. Green heals with caring, brilliant touches. Do something physical: walk, run, bike, walk, and breathe. And now, surrounded by His fingerprints, talk with your Maker.
  6. Write. Read old writings, create new ones, using pen/pencil and paper, preferably in a notebook. 
  7. Read poetry, posts from the Burning Youth website, and rich, heavy literature: a comforting heavy, like a weighty quilt on an autumn day, like the mass of rolling water above you as you dive under waves.
  8. Have you gotten good sleep? Go take a nap.
  9. Create. It doesn't have to be good, it can be genius or revoltingly horrible. Draw, paint, write (analog methods preferred.)
  10. Serve. Meet someone new. Meet with friends. GET OUT of that head of yours. Make a list of things you like to do, or dream of doing, and make sure you transcribe it to somewhere permanent that you know you'll see again. Make a list like this one.
  11. Talk to people who get you.
  12. Listen to Bloodflood pt. 1 by Alt-j.

I'm off to do numbers 5 and 7. Bye.


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