I’m going to try my very best to take a social media break through the end of the year. This time of the year gets me both hypomanic and depressed. I’m energized by the shopping, and shopping is a huge issue for me when I’m hypomanic. I’m depressed by the darkness and the COVID circumstances.
What I am going to do:
Read paper books rather than computer scroll.
Listen to Pandora’s R&B Christmas music. Play games with my kids.
Indulge in $25 candles in my new king-bed bedroom.
Wash my face with some pear something or other that cost way too much money but that feels absolutely amazing.
Wash my body with a lavender soap my child picked out just for me.
Cook and cook and cook all the things I love to eat and feed my family.
Walk my Hope and nap with her on the couch.
Do some yoga.
Drink expensive beautiful teas so I can drink 1 glass of wine and not 3.
Make and design my annual family year-in-review books for the grandparents, and send my end-of-the-year cards.
Meditate so I can be more patient with my 3rd, 8th, and 9th graders who are trying to do school in a pandemic at various levels of success.
Oh, and…grade my 1Ls as compassionately as possible given a grading curve I think is wrong especially given the circumstances.
That’s a lot to do in one month. But it’s so very necessary. It’s time that I work harder at planning for my mental health challenges rather than waiting for the crisis and having a plan to get out of it. Because I never have a plan. And it never feels like I can get out of it.
So I’ll try this. We’ll see.
Doctor Mama Esquire 