Depression Hates a Moving Target

I admit it's not exactly the same thing; there's a more generalized value to what Winston Churchill relied upon to battle his depression, that I've certainly employed. I think I've talked about this before. Working a job. Employer brings in consulting company. Consulting company immediately starts side-lining people, myself included. I have to participate in these audio-only Zoom meetings where they prop themselves up while misunderstanding everything I've done.

Where was I during these meetings? Outside. Outside splitting logs with a giant maul. Vigorously. The worst the consultants were crapping on me, the more vigorously I was churning out split logs. All while my iPad was sitting, propped up, on a log nearby.

Physical work like bricklaying does something extra on top of this. It crowds out rumination, the looping bad thoughts that grind people down during the worst stretches of depression. Bricklaying needs both hands and gives feedback brick by brick: each one is straight or crooked. After an hour you can see exactly how much wall you built. No room left for the mental chewing.

Anyway, it wasn't depression for me at all. There were all manner of other emotions that needed an outlet though.

I don't recall the exact chronology, but at some point I bought some acreage out in the country. I had aspirations of building a home there one day, but in the mean time, this land was a giant, untamed jungle; a former horse ranch, actually. I was out there for 12+ hours every Saturday, mulching, mowing, weed-eating, bush-hogging, chainsawing, and on and on.

If you're feeling down or unfulfilled, get yourself a physically strenuous hobby. If you have so much downtime that your feelings are taking over, you need some better uses of your time.

Anyway...back to work bootstrapping this app.