15 responses so far ↓

• 1 Bobute Jan 10, 2006

  Jiggling and sinking are my speciality more than I like to admit.
  Jiggling, for mE, is working around a thousand distractions during the day. The phone, pets, outside noises, and a kind of smothering feeling daytime brings.
  I prefer writing late at night into early morning. It is quiet, my thoughts are more clear, on occasion, a nightbird might even decide to serenade mE.
  The dark, deep places I sink into are partly due to health issues.
  Then I have a “pity pot” I occupy all alone. When that becomes lonely, I reach for the light hoping to find it where I left it.
  I belong to a few writing sites
  which always help mE work it out. I am a firm believer, we do nothing alone, no matter how lonely we feel.
  I want this new year to be one of progress. New exciting happenings, which only I can step out to find.

  Namaste
  Bobute

• 2 Rebecca Altman Jan 10, 2006

  When the “blahs” strike, I’ve learned to do three things:

  1. Go for a run or walk outside. Expending myself in that way is, ironically, quite energizing. Well, sometimes it is…

  …and for those times it is not…

  2. I am learning how to “sit still,” to stop flapping my wings, being driven by a pointless frenetic energy that makes me seem like I’m do, do, doing, when I’m actually just avoiding that I need some down time.

  3. I reach out to see how other women live their lives… I think, “certainly, I can’t be alone in feeling this way…” Blogs are great for this. As is your website! I usually can gleen some little insight into my blah-dom, which helps be move through it.

• 3 m Jan 10, 2006

  sometimes it helps just to acknowldge that one does have the blahs…

• 4 Toni Jan 10, 2006

  My blahs often mean I need to ask and answer some questions about my life. I ask myself what I need that I’m not getting.
  When I was younger I didn’t mind the blahs so much. It was my time to think and write or listen to music but as I’ve gotten older I sometimes feel I’m wasting precious hours. I only have so many hours left and don’t I want to fill them up as much as possible? I struggle with the blahs.

• 5 Mindy Stern Jan 10, 2006

  I have visited the land of “blah”-dom off and on quite a few times the past couple years. I like to look at these times as winters in my life… times to slow down, really listen to my inner self and invite in what the “blah” time is here to teach me.

  A couple summers ago I went through an extended blah period, and I named that my “fallow” period. Even though it didn’t seem like I wasn’t accomplishing much, I was giving my body, mind and spirit time that they needed to process some events that had happened… and allowing myself time to heal. It was a time of rest and replenishment.

  I love this quote from Dawna Markova’s book (which I alwaya go back to when I have the blahs), I Will Not Die an Unlived Life:

  “Like the rest of the natural world, human beings go through seasons. At one point, we are in the full bloom of summer, harvesting, committed, in abundance. Then, naturally, there is an autumnal time of falling away, disillusionment, stagnation, a shedding of what has been used up. Then must come the fallowness and dormancy of winter, death, rest. Eventually, as is happening right outside the windows of this cabin, there is a great melting into the muck and mud, which, if one can persevere, opens naturally into an abundant yellow-green time, when everything is possible and horizons open.”

  Later in the same chapter she writes:

  “Winter, or dormancy, can then be welcomed as a time for incubation, rather than stagnation. This natural process, if allowed to occur, fosters trust that the greening of purpose and passion will reemerge from this frozen ground, regenerating your desire to reach out and offer your renewed self.”

• 6 Denel Jan 10, 2006

  The blahs??? After 20 or so straight days of rain, who wouldn’t have the blahs? I am responding to your eternal search for answers with the idea that the blah feeling is actually a good thing; a motivator of sorts. I’m sailing along so smoothly and then I have an off day for whatever reason and it causes me to pause and reflect on the source of my discomfort instead of scurrying on to the next thing. I also think I do some of my best writing during these periods of “blah-ness”, but that’s a matter of opinion!

  Late to the party, but I also wanted to comment on your discomfort with giving away your art. A. How come I haven’t gotten any?? (kidding!) B. It is a true reflection of you and your heart and it is natural to be fearful of exposing that which is close to you. C. Who cares what anyone thinks anyway? If you are giving a gift to someone, likely it is someone you love and who loves you back and the spirit of the gift will be seen and appreciated; ie; the silly little bowl I painted for your birthday, seriously not a piece of fine art, but I showed I love you, right? And I still do…

• 7 JoTee Jan 11, 2006

  The Winter Blahs drive me nuts, I feel like I am in a cage & can’t get out, especially when the weather outside won’t let me be outside for a nice walk. Getting the blood flowing perks me up, but only sometimes.

  The winter months I realize are for resting & hibernating, but to me this time seems a way too long, I want to bounce back & forth, be creative, have fun, then cozy up with a good book. But alas for now I have to deal with winter, but soon I hope life in a NEW place like New Mexico will be more appealing, more fun, & creative than dang ole Wyoming in the winter is.
  *
  I especially like these quotes that another commented on:
  I love this quote from Dawna Markova’s book (which I alwaya go back to when I have the blahs), I Will Not Die an Unlived Life:

  “Like the rest of the natural world, human beings go through seasons. At one point, we are in the full bloom of summer, harvesting, committed, in abundance. Then, naturally, there is an autumnal time of falling away, disillusionment, stagnation, a shedding of what has been used up. Then must come the fallowness and dormancy of winter, death, rest. Eventually, as is happening right outside the windows of this cabin, there is a great melting into the muck and mud, which, if one can persevere, opens naturally into an abundant yellow-green time, when everything is possible and horizons open.”

  Later in the same chapter she writes:

  “Winter, or dormancy, can then be welcomed as a time for incubation, rather than stagnation. This natural process, if allowed to occur, fosters trust that the greening of purpose and passion will reemerge from this frozen ground, regenerating your desire to reach out and offer your renewed self.”

• 8 marion barnett Jan 11, 2006

  Blahs? I suffer from chronic clinical depression. I know about blahs. I experience them every day.

  As far as the artwork is concerned, the trick, for me at least, is to turn up and do the work. Even if it’s only the grunt work, like preparing canvasses, or the pages of a book to be altered. That is constructive use of time; I hate doing underpainting, and it means that when I have a day where I feel I *want* to paint, I have a choice of canvasses, all ready and waiting. That is satisfying enough, of course. Usually, though, what happens is that I get into the ‘flow’ experience, forget about the blahs for the time in which I’m in the art room, and one thing leads to another four hours of creativity.

• 9 Photopoppy Jan 11, 2006

  Like Rebecca, I get out and move to defeat the blahs. Even a walk through a city park reminds me of how beautiful the world around me is, and how small my stressors are in relation.

  Days when I don’t have time to go out for a walk, I’ll turn on some music and dance while I make dinner. If the neighbors think I’m strange, it’s their fault for snooping in my kitchen window :p

  There’s times too, when I’m not particularly “down” but just feeling blah about what I’m currently doing… I’m making that my signal to check in with myself about what I’d rather be doing. A lot of times, it means planning out my next batch of photos – which, in this rain, usually means picking up some flowers or dressing up some food to look appealing.

• 10 Paula Jan 11, 2006

  I hate to wallow, so when I get the blahs I tend to do something. For me it’s the perfect time to clean out a drawer or a closet, sort my earrings, put little poems and quotes I’ve been collecting on scraps into a notebook, or weed and prune in the garden (nothing like whacking dead wood when you’re down!). In other words, to accomplish something tangible doing work that is essentially mindless. The other things I do are go out to dinner with a friend–good food, company, and the pleasure of being waited on go far,– or take myself to an art museum or gallery. Beauty always re-charges me. I find that taking a nap just prolongs my agony. I guess I use the blahs as a break, of sorts, from feeling the need to “produce.”

• 11 Susie Jan 11, 2006

  My blah’s usually take hold when I’ve been eating too many carbs and not exercising enough.

  Also if I get too obsessed with something I said that I shouldn’t have or am waiting to hear back from someone, the blahs often take over.

  I try to get out in nature, walk quickly up a hill, write a little, or do some other thing completely unrelated to what I think made me feel blah.

  Today it’s overcast and rainy. Definitely a blah day. I turned on a bunch of lights and music to make me feel good as I work and am tackling some little niggling things that have also made me feel blah.

  Oh, and writing here and knowing I’m connecting with people is helping too!

• 12 Julia Rogers Hamrick Jan 11, 2006

  Hi, Y’all~

  There are several articles on the articles page of my website that apply. The one I’m thinking of specifially is called “Non-Resistance: When Spiritual Wisdom Escapes You, It’s the Way to Go!” It’s currently the 5th one down the list.

  http://www.recreating-eden.com/articles.html

  Even though the title of the article doesn’t at first glance seem to be right on target, I think you will understand how/why the article applies when you read it!

  For sure, moving energy is what is needed when the blahs strike (I love all your suggestions), but there is a part of you that is invested in your stagnation. That’s who you need to work around if you want to go higher in frequency out of the blah space. So it helps to know what its modus operandi so you can circumvent this pesky aspect of yourself and soar again!

  In Joy,

  Julia

• 13 Karen Tiede Jan 11, 2006

  From Anne Lamott’s Traveling Mercies, I think:

  “Does this make my butt look big?”

  “You don’t have that kind of time.”

  I have days when I don’t really feel like doing anything. But I do not have the bank balance that will let me indulge that feeling.

  In the absence of inspiration or guidance, a good routine is priceless. Do something. If it’s not my art, there’s still plenty enough that needs attention and I’ll have to get around to sooner or later.

• 14 pauline Jan 11, 2006

  Perfect reading for the blahs. .exactly where i’m at ! I still try to have a thankful heart…blah blah . . .good friends help to soothe my soul…warm soft jammies help also…a time for incubation..ilove it…

• 15 Kayll Jan 13, 2006

  So glad I found your site! Hmmm, the blahs… Doing “seemingly meaningless” busywork such as cleaning and reorganizing is something that helps me get through the blahs. I don’t particularly enjoy organizing and while I am no slob, I could clean a bit more.

  So when the blahs have me in their grip, I just move zombielike through my apartment cleaning this and that. The benefit? When I am released from the blahs, I can enjoy from the wonderful clean apartment I’ve created for myself.

  However, sometimes when I feel trapped by the blahs, I just sleep a lot.

  “To sleep, perchance to dream…” – Shakespeare