Sing a Song for Sanity

Dear Reader,

Do you ever just feel… crazy? By this I mean, that you feel totally unlike yourself. One example of this could be if you were sleep deprived and you started seeing things or hearing things, or just forgetting really basic things. Another example, could be feeling really stressed and taking unnecessary risks.

Things are totally hectic in more than one department of my life right now, which leaves me feeling like there are simply not enough hours in a month to get things done. When every minute is precious, it can be tempting to cut out activities from our daily routine in favor of a quicker alternative. To make myself feel more “sane” during extremely busy periods, I try to maintain my routine as best as I can. For example, I like to walk to work in the mornings, however, on a very busy day it would be much quicker to take the subway or even an Uber. But, walking in the morning brings me the most joy (and is also the cheapest option!), so I will continue to make walking a priority when I can.

Sometimes, though, there just isn’t enough time to walk in the mornings. This is a good indicator to me that things have become too stressful. When I no longer have time to walk, then I feel like my life is turning in a direction that I am uncomfortable with. When this happens too often then sometimes I feel crazy. This morning was a good example.

I did have time to walk this morning, but only because I chose to sacrifice sleep. In a daze of exhaustion this morning, an old song popped up on my playlist— “I want it that way” by the Backstreet Boys. This song was a hit when it came out about 2 decades ago, but I was never really a fan. However, this morning, I really connected with the emotional tone of the song. So much so that I sang along—out loud—to the song three times in a row!

This is unusual behavior for me and I’m sure that it is a manifestation of my stress. So, if you heard a 20-something-year old madwoman singing to the Backstreet Boys like it’s Y2K sometime around 6:30am, she may not have been feeling like herself that morning… go easy on her. If you ever feel totally overwhelmed, Dear Reader, perhaps just try letting it out every once and a while.

Love,

Raven