Postcards from the Funny Farm

This is a guest post from Chelle who writes about relationships on her blog itmightbelove.com.

Recently I noticed Damien asked a question in his post about what we want and what we need:

What is your “thing” you can do today to relax your body and awaken your creativity?

Having a similiarly hectic life to everyone else I try to at least once a day do something to help me relax and clear my head - otherwise I would probably be spinning in circles most of the time. Most of the things you can do to find inspiration and clear your mind don’t take a lot of effort or time to do.
Here are 25 Ways to Find Inspiration, Relax, and Clear Your Mind:

1. Music: No matter what my mood is or what I need to get done, music is a BIG source of inspiration. There’s music to fit any mood and sometimes just hearing certain songs can make you feel good. Playing guitar or piano (even if you’re not necessarily a rock star!) is another great creative outlet to find a little inspiration and/or clear your head.

2. Nature: The world is a beautiful place, and yet most of the time we’re too busy to enjoy it. Whether you decide to watch the sky or just go for a walk in the woods, it can instantly make you feel less stressed and help get that creativity going again.

3. People Watching: Sometimes its easy to be overwhelmed by the people we encounter daily through work or school or our families. But watching complete strangers can give you the opportunity to view life from someone else’s eyes. You can guess what they might be thinking or feeling or going through. You might find some ideas pretty easily by watching someone else for just a few minutes.

4. Take a Road Trip: A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to drive 2 hours in a car all by myself. No kids screaming – just me, my car, and the open road. It was amazing! It was the first time I had driven that long by myself – I forgot how much a road trip could instantly clear your mind and inspire you!

5. Photographs: Thanks to the power of the internet, there are millions of photos to take a look at and use for inspiration. If you like to take photographs, why not take a day sight seeing and snapping shots? Taking some time to go out and take pictures can be a great source for inspiration and relaxation.

6. Dreams: Dreams can be very powerful in giving you insight in your life. If you have problems remembering dreams, all you need to do is get into a habit of writing about what your dreams were – even if very hazy or foggy at first. You’ll start remembering very vivid details before long. Understanding your dreams is one step to understanding yourself better – and even if the dream is complete nonsense it may give you a few good ideas! A good night’s rest can do wonders as well!

7. Great Food: Inspiration can come from waking up your senses and taste is no exception. Maybe its comfort food or something exquisite. Sometimes ice cream makes everything all better too. If you tend to be overindulgent a lot, cutting back to healthier eating habits can also help improve your mood and help you concentrate.

8. Aromatherapy: Sure, a lot of people will roll their eyes at the thought of candles and incense and all of that. But smell is another important sense that when stimulated can help you instantly relax. Recently I used an old real estate trick to put a few teaspoons of vanilla on a pan in the oven to warm. The whole house radiated of a warm fuzzy baking cookies smell that put everyone instantly in a good mood. Lavender is also another smell that most people respond well too.

9. Touch: While we’re on the subject of the senses, touch is another that we often forget to nurture. Whether you hold someone’s hand, sign up for a day at a local spa for a massage, rub your dog’s belly, or just wear you most favorite worn out t-shirt– the things your body touches and come into contact with can have a big affect on your mood and your creativity.

10. Close Family/Friends: The people we are the closest to are typically the ones we take for granted the most. Take a time-out and really listen to them what they are thinking about or doing. You’ll be surprised at how inspiring it might be to see what they have to say or a different perspective on a situation you’re in.

11. Online Forums: If I’m ever stuck on a blog post idea or need somewhere to let off some steam, online forums are great for this! Complete strangers love to talk about their problems and listen to yours. One of the nicest communities I’ve met are the folks over at MyLot – but there are plenty of other great boards too. Sometimes listening to other people’s problems and trying to offer solutions can help you clear your head, give you a place to vent, and get new perspectives you hadn’t thought of before.

12. Magazines & Newspapers: With everything online anymore, we forget about the thrill of a magazine coming in the mail or opening up the Sunday paper and spreading it across the table or couch. I like magazines and newspapers because they are perfect for my short attention span and they are also full of recent events and opinions to help inspire you.

13. Brainstorm: Sometimes a good brainstorm can help you think of new ideas and thoughts. You can list pros and cons if you are trying to make a decision, or you can map it out with a list of ideas and cloud bubbles.

14. Paint, Draw, Color: I am lucky that by being a mom I have a full arsenal of crayons, water colors, and markers at my disposal. Anytime the kids get restless or I feel like we need to calm down we sit down and paint or color. Instant relaxation!

15. Hydrotherapy: A hot bath or shower, a soak in a hot tub, maybe even a few laps around a pool can all do wonders in relaxing you and helping you think clearly. Haven’t you ever heard anyone say “I do my best thinking in the shower?”

16. Break the Monotony: Most days follow a routine of some sorts. Routines are usually good – you’re more organized and better prepared to handle the stress that’s bound to come your way. But every so once inawhile, take a break from your routine. Do something entirely spontaneous. You’ll find yourself rejuvenated again.

17. Exercise: It wasn’t until about 6 months ago I realized exercise wasn’t a chore but an instant pick me up. I usually workout to my list of 100 workout songs - afterwards I always feel much more relaxed.

18. Do Nothing: Sometimes when you’re so caught up in the hustle and bustle of everything, what you really need is some do nothing time. Think about how much time you spend doing absolutely nothing – there’s a good chance you’re not giving yourself a break if you’re feeling overwhelmed or stressed out. Take an hour (or maybe even a whole day) and do absolutely nothing.

19. Clean House: Damien suggested this a few times and I completely agree. Clutter and disorganization can make you feel overwhelmed instantly. Whether you decide to organize the files on your computer or to clean out the garage or do dishes by hand in the sink doesn’t matter – sometimes just cleaning things out can help you clear your mind and give you a sense of order and control.

20. Write: Writing has always been an excellent way to relax and be inspired, unless you’re experiencing writers block of course! Sometimes keeping a daily or weekly journal can help you sort out thoughts and ideas and feel better – as well as take a look back at what you’ve done which can be inspiration. If writer block is a problem, I’m a big fan of “freewriting” – you set a timer for 5 minutes and just write non stop for that 5 minutes. Sure, you might find yourself writing a lot of nonsense – but you might also find a few great gems of ideas in there as well.

21. Add Some Greenery: You don’t have to have a green thumb to enjoy gardening. A few low maintenance house plants or doing some landscaping or even mowing the grass can all provide an outlet to escape the usual stress and help you clear your mind.

22. Meditate: Spending some time to quietly reflect and clear your head can work wonders as well. Learning how to meditate can really make a big difference on your ability to

23. Do a Puzzle: It doesn’t matter if you do a jigsaw puzzle or a crossword puzzle – puzzle solving is a great way to exercise your brain and help you get your mind off the more important things for a little while and help you relax.

24. Laugh: There’s been proof that laughter is perhaps the best medicine and even good for you – but it’s a good chance you’re not laughing enough. Next time everything goes wrong don’t start yelling – laugh. Make sure you find something funny at least once a day. I try to do this with my totally pointless blog about stupid stuff.

25. Get Your Frustrations Out: One of our biggest problems is we tend to bottle up emotions or feelings. It’s not intentionally usually, but the day to day aggravation can eventually make you feel like you might just snap. So go ahead and take some time at a batting cage or golf range, punch a pillow, or scream at the top of your lungs. You’ll feel better that you did!

Do you feel inspired yet? There’s a ton of things you can do that can instantly make you feel better and at peace with the world. Most aren’t hard to do - you just need to make sure you put things like these on your priority list right up there with “get dressed today” and “feed kids”. Giving yourself some space and time can help you move from feeling like you can’t get anything done to feeling like you can conquer all.

I had an absolute blast this week reading blogosphere posts about the brain and inspiration. Here are some I stumbled along the way. Please stumble them all, they are very deserving.

52 Sunday Evening Meditations on Life | Marc and A...
Great list of 52 “mantras” or meditations. Give ‘em a read.

ALEXEY TITARENKO | PHOTOGRAPHY
This is the kind of picture where you stare it it and it keeps getting weirder and weirder with the possibilities of what you are seeing.

A Blog About The Law of Inspiration: Creating Unli...
I really like and agree with these ideas to keep inspiration flowing.

Drumroll Please
CK is one of the coolest bloggers out there. She dedicates her posts to describing what mental health issues feel like. What a contribution! It so happens she nominated me for an award in this post. I want to recommend her to you.

overeating and anorexia: a dialogue
A very candid and informative dialogue on a therapist’s blog. Archive this one as an excellent, eye-opening resource on anorexia.

Life’s Little Gifts | Growing Happiness
An amazing tip on finding inspiration in the little things. This is an inspiration blog I really recommend.

D’oh! It’s not a comedy cell
I really like how this guy once again describes how the brain is working in ordinary situations, like watching the Simpsons. I can’t promote his blog enough. Did you ver see the episode where he called Chicago personal injury lawyers. Me neither because I don’t think it existed. I saw the one where they showed his brain though :) That’s the kind of fun you get on his site.

Somewhere on this blog is a picture of me at the Coke museum this summer.  Those stylish glasses I am wearing are prescription and guess what I paid for them?  $8.  I think with shipping it was 11 or something, but that was the actual cost to cut the lenses and get the $ 8 Zenni Optical Rx Eyeglasses. If you know your prescription numbers (I had an outdated one laying around) They don’t need a doctor, you just type in the numbers you want.

Zenni Optical is not just a place I pay lip-service to.  They have a huge selection of frames at all price ranges, but for me, the $8 ones do the trick.  You go to their site, type in your prescription info, select the frames, pay by credit card online and in less than two weeks they came to me.  I was so excited opening the box.  My eyes had been blurry for about a year because I lost my old glasses.  Now, $8 later and almost a year later since I bought them (I am wearing them now as I type) they are still “the boss deal”  and my vision wearing them is crystal clear.  As you can tell, I am excited to recommend this company.

Go check them out. $ 8 Zenni Optical Rx Eyeglasses

I want to discuss Ellis’ theory of Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT) as it relates to a happy marriage. Let’s face it, when your marriage is thriving and healthy, it feels like you’re taking pure energy pills. I may have mentioned REBT here before but this is a unique way of looking at it to keep your marriage positive and growing in love.  REBT is a way of breaking down communication and understanding why we and our spouses do what we do. The basic template are these ABC’s:

A: Adversity comes our way and we are forced to deal with it.  This can be like the house being messy for example.  Will you clean it?  Will you yell at your spouse over it?  Will you do nothing and BROOD? etc.

B: Beliefs we hold cause us to see adversity in given ways.  For example, if I grew up with a maid, I will not likely clean the house all the time.  On the other hand, if I was the cleaner my whole life I might never let it get bad. Then finally,

C: Consequences result after A and B combine to make our actions.  The trick is really studying how we got here in a given situation.

I think it is the best piece of advice I could give to a married couple to study Ellis’ ABC’s of REBT.  It is the logical continuation of possibility thinking (I wrote a series on that btw) Understanding that your spouse says and does things directly as a result of their beliefs might lessen the number of arguments you have.  For example, if you learn that your wife never got new shoes much, then you might understand her apprehension to buying your kids as many as you think they need.  That’s a simple example but this method can help you manage your money, sex-life, raising and disciplining of kids, etc.  Remember to think your arguments through and remember your ABC’s.

Got a method to your marriage that works for you?

I remember when I was 18-ish and didn’t think I should be forced to have Health Insurance. By “forced” I mean my employer, then a grocery store, automatically took fees out of my paycheck every two weeks to pay for a plan. I never got sick … I didn’t need any counseling services (according to me anyway) and since I wasn’t yet the casanova (lol) I knew I wasn’t going to get anyone pregnant. I wanted the couple hundred bucks in my pocket to have fun buying car stereo equipment and guitar effects pedals. Boy, was I blinded by the young man syndrome.

The fact we know as adults is this: everyone should have Health Insurance. There is a website that makes finding affordable health insurance an easy task. In fact, why not go there now and get yourself insured. We are all getting older and we live in organic houses called bodies that break down. Sometimes we just need general maintenance in the day to day as in the case of chronic diseases like diabetes or bipolar just to name a few.

eHealthHelp helps you understand how your health plan works. After 25 years helping people, they can get you the most affordable, quality care and what’s more: they help you understand the process to get the help you need. Insurance companies can be like mazes (most notably the mental health wings). These folks will take you under their wing and get you through the dark tunnel of finding Health Insurance. Click over there and get the help you need today.

I just read that 460 million vacation days went unused last year by American workers … no wonder we have so many mental problems in our country! To all those people so worried about missing work I say this: “Be responsible, go on vacation!” This post was inspired by a discussion at Loose Suits.

Of course people with jobs that don’t offer sick days, like freelance writers and the like, might not click on this article. Theirs is a different dilemma that I could discuss at length as well. Having said that, we are all faces with the importance of taking vacations. So if we know how important they are, why aren’t we taking them? In my opinion, folks with vacation days would be “sick” not to use them!

Any problems we have at work and at home will get worse if we don’t use our vacation days.

I look at vacation days as a time to regroup. It’s a time to get romantic with your spouse. Vacations are a time to find inspiration in even those “nothing” moments. How many times have I taken a simple walk in a new place and had tomes of inspiration flood into my mind. It can heal what you thought was impossible stress. I have written my best songs while taking vacation time.  It can be really tough to find the flights you desire, that’s why it is helpful to plan way ahead.  If it is a priority and you are willing to wait you will fare better!

Looking for timely new york flights is even harder than looking for cheap flights to germany. However the flights to thailand can be bought at the last minute too. This is true for a number of other flights as well.

I’ve been highly stressed out at work before. (hasn’t everybody?) It can feel like radioactive heat burning you up … it deserves you a day off. After a “mental health day” the heat goes away. I get fresh new ideas that ironically make me more valuable to my employer. What? More valuable by taking time off? Yes. It’s a time to sharpen my axe.

I think the paranoia many have of getting in trouble at work for taking sick days is unwise. People need to get over it and just take those vacation days like clockwork. It just might be the difference between a promotion or being written up for lack of productivity. The article I read on this was truly staggering. The best argument for this is simple: Look at pictures of your loved ones over the past few years. When you do so you will see just how fast this thing called a lifespan is passing by. Is work that important to Americans? Do people think a real man doesn’t call off work ever? Do that many Americans really think they are heroes for not taking a vacation? Getting any getaway locations in mind yet? I am. Here’s a place to buy your travel supplies. Enjoy.

Do you know some who when you tell them about a service you received always has a better suggestion? It’s one thing for a person to give advice once in a while or even repeatedly when it is relevant or even better TRUE. It’s entirely another when in every conversation they claim to know exactly what to do that is better than what you have done.

Hearing people talk about diets is a breeding ground for this sort of advice. My wife is doing a great job watching her cals and doing lots of exercise. It’s actually made me want to join her in her endeavors. Her sister claims she goes to a service that gives her cheap Phentermine every week. The story didn’t make much sense. I have heard mixed reviews of this drug and I know for some people it has worked very well. It has always seemed to me that there is no short cut to endeavors like this and the simple formula of: 1) eat less, 2) exercise more is probably the best bet. I hope the Phemtermine works for my sister-in-law because she is putting a lot of stock in it. Maybe the best path is a combination of my idea and hers? I guess ony time will tell.

This morning on my way to teach summer school for day one, I heard news on the radio that Tim Russert had suffered a thrombosis and succumbed to a massive heart attack. The news shocked me, he was only 58. The radio host explained he had an enlarged heart which usually means high blood pressure was present and could have been prevented through medication. In the past I have been open about my own struggle with hypertension and you may recall that I take hypertensive medications to keep my numbers below the normal 120/80. So far, so good. My blog is here 100% for the inspiration of my reader but …

It doesn’t matter how inspired your work is if you are not healthy.

That goes for my teaching and any other work I do. So, in this post today I’m killing the buzz a bit, for a good cause.

I’m 39 as of the 9th this month and I recognize that the treadmill and medication have to be part of my routine if I want to have longevity. Your thing might be diabetic lancets or who knows what. Are you working your program? As you get caught up on your computer and the CAT6 cables around your workspace, how do you feel?

It’s easy to think we can live to be 100 but it’s another thing to do what we can to ensure that. It takes inspiration to live and creativity to incorporating health into our dream. In my life as a dad, I owe it to my wife and kids to be around as long as I can. Tim Russert’s premature passing should be a wake up call, broadcast as far as “Meet the Press” ever did. Are you thinking about your health? Maybe you should be. What does the topic of health make you feel like? Sorry if it bugs ya. not.

More people were using Prozac in the 1990’s than aspirin. It was the pop drug of choice for millions of mental health caregivers. Was all that prescribing warranted? We found that Prozac caused suicides and a set of other mental health impairments that were just as bad as depression if not worse. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not saying Prozac is a bad drug or even a dangerous drug. What I am saying is that we were abusing it as a society and some might argue it’s even worse now in the 2000’s. You see these cure-alls all over the place and some of them are effective but not much as they say (like for example colon cleanser for weight loss.)

So what about our drug these days? What are we using as a cure-all? The answer is: Xanax. Xanax shows up in my spam box about 100 times a day along with the other spam. We all get them and if you’re like me, delete them in the bulk folder of your email program. So why is Xanax so alluring? Simple … it’s a powerful tranquilizer that knocks you out. If your doctor has prescribed you Xanax, I am sure he/she had good reason but before you start popping pills to chill yourself out, consider the fact that it IS habit forming and you could get addicted. It can be possible to find calm and happiness without medication (though at time meds are the only way).

While I am a proponent of medication to balance ones brain chemicals, I feel strongly these drugs are over prescribed. To protect yourself you need to learn what makes you happy and what you enjoy. Those should be the first line of defense against anxiety. Your doctor should tell you that, but most pdocs do not. Unfortunately you have to do your own research on how to quell your anxiety before you visit the pdoc. It wouldn’t hurt to give them the benefit of the doubt and see them before you explore natural ways of calm, but rest assured, Xanax is only a short term cure for anxiety. When your body builds up a tolerance, then what?

*caveat: J has reminded us that Xanax is likely not addictive when prescribed in the correct way and dosage. I was referring to people who abuse it with or without a prescription. Even pdocs make mistakes so do what is right for you after getting educaated on what you put into your delicate brain chemistry. Thanks J.

“Ninety percent of metabolic oxygen comes from breathing. Ten percent
comes from food.”
- Gabriel Cousens, M.D.

When I was a kid I swam on the swim team in our small city. I remember one of the favorite antics for us kids was to see how many laps one could swim without taking a breath. Ugh, what damage must have been done. Luckily people are born with more brain cells than they need.

Breathing is involuntary but we have the ability to breathe deeply. When we breathe deeply we take control of our life and absorb (literally) more of life. As the quote above attests, breathing deeply accounts for most of the oxygen feeding our body and brain. When we take shallow breaths, we starve our mind, body, and inspiration. If I am not feeling inspired or if I have a lot of huge troubles hanging over my head, that is expecially the time to try and find inspiration by deep breathing.

We need to schedule one or two focused breathing times each day. These should be in realistic scenarios like for instance, breathing deeply until the first commercial on your favorite television show, or taking a walk past three mailboxes until you resume normal, involuntary breathing.

Dunn wrote in a comment today how it is hard to relax when you have troubles in your life. That is very true. But I will say that when I mediate on the mountaintop, I don’t have to be on the mountaintop. I can meditate from the valley looking up and marveling at the mountaintop. Either way, relaxation techniques and the practice of daily deep breathing twice a day will replenish our cells and feed our inspiration to take on whatever troubles might be crouching at our front door. How can you practice daily deep breathing?

I hope you benefited from reading this. Next: The passive attitude …