Thank you for sharing this Alicorn, as usual a really encouraging analysis and description from you!
In my own experimentation, the knowledge that there are certain sure-fire mood-improving activities means that I can sometimes skip right over actually undertaking the activities. For example, being absolutely certain that my mood would be improved if I went walking for an hour is sometimes enough, without actually going walking, to lift my spirits. In fact, a long walk is the only sure-fire mood enhancer I’ve found, and it seems to be be important to have absolute certainty that it would work no matter how bad things seem in the present. Talking to friends and going for a short jog are also sometimes effective, but, at least for me, not always.
I think these fall into the “favourite pair of socks” category of short-term “emergency” mood enhancers.
In fact, a long walk is the only sure-fire mood enhancer I’ve found.
A nice hard swim does the same trick for me. Unfortunately, my ex-swim-team baggage means that if I go for a swim to feel better, and end up going slower than my usual speed, I feel like I’ve failed at something and my mood is worse, although physically I feel better.
...if I go for a swim to feel better, and end up going slower than my usual speed, I feel like I’ve failed at something and my mood is worse, although physically I feel better.
‘In a longitudinal study of visual artists, Getzels and Csikszentmihalyi (1976) found that most artists were drawn to painting be- cause it allowed social isolation. However, aspiring painters have to promote social relations with art dealers, art critics, and buyers to gain notoriety, increase the demand for their art, and generate sufficient sales for full-time artistic activity. Failure to do so forced many of the best artists to take another job unrelated to painting. Once these artists could no longer commit sufficient time and energy to maintain and improve their performance they stopped painting completely because they could not accept performing at a lower level.’
Yup sounds like me, although I don’t think I would be capable of giving up swimming entirely without becoming seriously depressed. (I’m somewhat addicted to exercise, and I have bad knees which make it difficult to run, and cycling just isn’t the same full-body cardio workout.)
Ditto for running. I just tell myself that compared to others I’m still extremely fit and that it’s completely irrational to expect myself to be able to run at the same speed if I’m running 30min a day compared to 2-3 hours.
I’m very simple. Exercise and music.
For exercise, a long run is best (if I’m seriously depressed, my coordination and peripheral vision are so bad that weights are not safe.)
For music, Bob Dylan, Beethoven’s Ninth, or Irish fiddle music.
Thank you for sharing this Alicorn, as usual a really encouraging analysis and description from you!
In my own experimentation, the knowledge that there are certain sure-fire mood-improving activities means that I can sometimes skip right over actually undertaking the activities. For example, being absolutely certain that my mood would be improved if I went walking for an hour is sometimes enough, without actually going walking, to lift my spirits. In fact, a long walk is the only sure-fire mood enhancer I’ve found, and it seems to be be important to have absolute certainty that it would work no matter how bad things seem in the present. Talking to friends and going for a short jog are also sometimes effective, but, at least for me, not always.
I think these fall into the “favourite pair of socks” category of short-term “emergency” mood enhancers.
A nice hard swim does the same trick for me. Unfortunately, my ex-swim-team baggage means that if I go for a swim to feel better, and end up going slower than my usual speed, I feel like I’ve failed at something and my mood is worse, although physically I feel better.
I recently read through one of the Ericsson papers on expert performance (looking for sleep-related statistics for my melatonin article), and saw in http://projects.ict.usc.edu/itw/gel/EricssonDeliberatePracticePR93.pdf the following (emphasis added):
Yup sounds like me, although I don’t think I would be capable of giving up swimming entirely without becoming seriously depressed. (I’m somewhat addicted to exercise, and I have bad knees which make it difficult to run, and cycling just isn’t the same full-body cardio workout.)
Ditto for running. I just tell myself that compared to others I’m still extremely fit and that it’s completely irrational to expect myself to be able to run at the same speed if I’m running 30min a day compared to 2-3 hours.
Should we share our “sure-fire mood-improving activities” here?
Sleep and feeling like I’m making intellectual progress as opposed to spinning my wheels.
I’m very simple. Exercise and music. For exercise, a long run is best (if I’m seriously depressed, my coordination and peripheral vision are so bad that weights are not safe.) For music, Bob Dylan, Beethoven’s Ninth, or Irish fiddle music.