Beating the blues

Hello everyone,

It seems the hardest part of getting out of a mental down (the blues) is to move out of a vegetative state into an active one
The rewards for the effort are considerable, though.
Last week I was all over the place trying to get my work and family stuff sorted. I've been studying for seven years now and I suppose with the end in sight, are sort of ennui sets in. It's like a marathon runner heading towards the finishing tape! It's all about that last final effort when you're at your lowest.

The good news is, I prised myself away from the house and went for a walk along a river - Melbourne's great Yarra River.
At Warrandyte, about 20 kilometres out of Melbourne, the river runs sparkly clean. Although it was low, showing the effect of our drought, the water rippled over the rocks and the ducks were feeding and skidding in -that humorous way they do, feet out front and sending up spray everywhere. You have to laugh when they put their beaks down to feed and their fluffy bottoms tilt up as though to warm their nether regions in the autumn sun.

Just as I was watching the show, a young woman came by on horseback. Horses are a great love of mine - I actually said to myself before I left home, "i'd really like to pat a horse today" and that's the way it turned out. Such fine looking animals. I patted her horse and we had a good chat about riding in that area and how long it took her to find the right horse (two years).
After that I had a walk and headed off for a coffee and scone. By this time I was feeling wonderful - all gloom and doom gone.

I guess the reason for sharing this is to say - 'make the effort, try really hard when you're feeling low to get out there'. Nature and fresh air, not to mention a friendly chat, can do us the world of good. I know there are much more serious cases- many folk suffer from deep depression. In that instance, there are several avenues to pursue - your own doctor in tandem with support organisations that specialise in treating depression. Speaking of this, you will find in the PDF we have on the Loris and Lucy website, a list of these organisations (pertinent only to Australia, for overseas blog readers).

Until next time,
Best wishes and good health to all.
Camille.

PS I'm looking into going horse-riding again - on a regular basis.