I tried an experiment this week and I've decided that it's worked even better than I could have hoped. I've been writing lately about trying to be more conscious of my moods, or more specifically, what I'm thinking about, which in turn has a direct correlation with my mood.
I've noticed that while I enjoy silence sometimes, living alone with long periods of silence can be troublesome, particularly when I'm struggling with insomnia in the late hours of the night or the early hours of the morning. I don't particularly care for the radio stations in my area and I hate the commercials. I am, however, a political news junkie, so I'd resorted to using cable news as a radio of sorts.
Until my experiment this week, I didn't realize how much that was NOT helping my mood. Because I really care about this stuff (national politics), I'd find myself getting frustrated, and sometimes angry... with the coverage, with interviews, with the sad state of national and international affairs. I was well-informed on the issues, but no less stressed or tired.
So this week, I decided to take advantage of my expensive digital cable subscription. I found a smooth jazz channel that I love. So other than about an hour of cable news a night, the rest of the time (including most of last weekend), I had the tv on, listening to the most incredible jazz music. Not only has my mood increased substantially, but I find that I'm more energetic and more productive. I've discovered that it's impossible for me to feel sad, angry or stressed when I'm listening to music I truly enjoy. In fact, there have been times that I've even found myself dancing - yes, dancing around my home, by myself and having a great time doing it!
Susan wrote a great post earlier this week about a book she's reading called "BrainSwitch out of Depression: Breaking the Cycle of Despair" by A.B. Curtis who is a licensed cognitive behavioral therapist. I was so intrigued by Susan's brief overview of the thesis of the book that I ordered it yesterday. Reading her post about this book was validation that I'm on the right track with my music experiment because if I understand it correctly, Dr. Curtis believes that through hard work and practice, we can train our brains to respond differently to stressful situations. For me this is great news because it means that I don't have to be a prisoner to my moods and that my mother may have been right when she used to lecture me about dressing for success. She used to say that if you look successful, you'll start to act like you're successful, and if you act like you're successful, eventually you will be! I think the same theory applies to winning the battle against depression.
I've noticed that while I enjoy silence sometimes, living alone with long periods of silence can be troublesome, particularly when I'm struggling with insomnia in the late hours of the night or the early hours of the morning. I don't particularly care for the radio stations in my area and I hate the commercials. I am, however, a political news junkie, so I'd resorted to using cable news as a radio of sorts.
Until my experiment this week, I didn't realize how much that was NOT helping my mood. Because I really care about this stuff (national politics), I'd find myself getting frustrated, and sometimes angry... with the coverage, with interviews, with the sad state of national and international affairs. I was well-informed on the issues, but no less stressed or tired.
So this week, I decided to take advantage of my expensive digital cable subscription. I found a smooth jazz channel that I love. So other than about an hour of cable news a night, the rest of the time (including most of last weekend), I had the tv on, listening to the most incredible jazz music. Not only has my mood increased substantially, but I find that I'm more energetic and more productive. I've discovered that it's impossible for me to feel sad, angry or stressed when I'm listening to music I truly enjoy. In fact, there have been times that I've even found myself dancing - yes, dancing around my home, by myself and having a great time doing it!
Susan wrote a great post earlier this week about a book she's reading called "BrainSwitch out of Depression: Breaking the Cycle of Despair" by A.B. Curtis who is a licensed cognitive behavioral therapist. I was so intrigued by Susan's brief overview of the thesis of the book that I ordered it yesterday. Reading her post about this book was validation that I'm on the right track with my music experiment because if I understand it correctly, Dr. Curtis believes that through hard work and practice, we can train our brains to respond differently to stressful situations. For me this is great news because it means that I don't have to be a prisoner to my moods and that my mother may have been right when she used to lecture me about dressing for success. She used to say that if you look successful, you'll start to act like you're successful, and if you act like you're successful, eventually you will be! I think the same theory applies to winning the battle against depression.
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