Simple Tasks I’ve Been Doing Lately To Nurture Positive Brain-Feels

I wanted to name this article “Simple Tasks I’ve Been Doing Lately to Nurture My Mental Health,” but that sounded too boring once it was on the screen. If you aren’t familiar with the term “brain-feels,” where have you been, my friend?!

• Brain-feels is the hottest new mental health term circulating the never-ending cavern of my ever-anxious mind.
• Brain-feels describes the emotions that my brain is giving to my body.
• Good brain-feels mean I can make eye contact with strangers while walking my dog.
• Bad brain-feels mean I will sit in my bathtub with cold water dribbling over me from the showerhead, obsessively thinking about that one time 25 years ago when my grandfather forgot my name and then called me fat 10 seconds later. No he did not have dementia he just straight up forgot I existed.

Oh, the joys of brain-feels!

I’m not going to lie to you, friends; the bad brain-feels have been a bit overwhelming as of late. Don’t worry, I’ve sought help for this. I’ve also got my trusty defence mechanism of turning every single piece of trauma I’ve ever experienced in my life into awkward pitch-black humour.

However, even writing uncomfortable stories about my life hasn’t provided me with the vague apathy it usually does. So, knowing that I must do something to ward off the evil thoughts, I have begun participating in small but significant daily tasks to assist my mental health needs on a day-to-day (or, let’s be real here, minute-by-minute) basis.

Side note: if you came here looking for a “go for long walks in the forest” type of advice, I apologize in advance. I am lazy and get winded easily. Also, I am very afraid of the threat of axe murders.

1. Pretend that my dog and I are having an actual conversation. I have been leaning so heavily on Lucy these past few weeks that I think she (a loyal canine) is getting sick of me. Just this morning, as I was kissing her obsessively all over her face, directly after she had gotten into the compost bin and had rotting vegetable juice slathering her snout, she looked at me as if to say, “Look bitch, I love you too, but I really need my space, okay?” This did not discourage me, and I continued to tell her about my thoughts on the universe.
2. Reply to at least one comment. As you all know, I am very, very bad at replying to the comments you all so lovingly leave on my articles. I read them almost immediately, but then I get this anxiety over the fact that I cannot come up with something as witty, clever or funny as the comment you have just left me. So I say to myself, I’m just going to think on this for a few minutes. 3 months later, I realize I have not responded to you, and I feel like a colossal bag of frog droppings. So, I’ve been forcing myself to engage just a tiny bit more with my writing community. Whether that be replying to comments, reading more articles, or sending funny memes to my friends on the comment section of Facebook posts. And you know what, engaging feels really good. Even if I’m not as amusing as everyone else in the room.
3. Wearing fake glasses out in public. I honestly don’t know why this makes me feel better. I like having a Clark Kent disguise everywhere I go. And imma keep doing it, folks.
4. Drawing eyebrows on my eyebrows. Okay, I don’t want any backlash about this one, because it’s my truth, man. Maybe I’m shallow or vain, but when the bad brain-feels are really eating away at me, drawing on some dark brows with my 3 dollar Wet-n-Wild eyebrow pencil just gives me the boost I need to move from the couch to the patio set outside so I can get some fresh air for the day.
5. Stretching for at least one minute in front of the living room wall where all my kids’ photos are hung. I don’t know about you, but I’m obsessed with my kids. They make me truly happy. When I’m spending time with them, it is one of the few times I can truly be myself without feeling like there is any weird ulterior agenda happening. So I do some stretching, look at their beautiful faces, and think about all the good in my life. I usually stop after one minute because I have a very short attention span.

It’s not a long list, but these are some simple tasks that get me through the day when the lousy brain-feels are too overwhelming. Maybe they will help you too. Or maybe, you have some great ideas you’d like to share with me!

Thank you in advance for your thoughtful comments — please know that I’ve read it immediately in my email notifications, and you can expect a reply in 1 to 3 business months.

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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.

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