Heeeey. It’s been a hot minute, huh? So much has happened. My sweet, funny big girl turned TEN. Lucy started preschool. MQD started a new job. I ran a marathon. I finally bought light fixtures for the kitchen.
And so much has stayed so very much the same. I am still nursing and co-sleeping with Lucy. I am falling in love with my adorable husband more every day. I am still a mostly stay at home mom and grateful for it almost all of the time. I am still treading water in a strange place where I am proud of my physical accomplishments and hating the body that makes them happen.
But the big Sameness… the Thing that I thought was gone and has come back and hit me in the face like a long-forgotten boomerang… Depression. I thought for a while I was “better.” Or maybe I thought it was seasonal. Or maybe I thought it was just Post Race Blues. But it was still warm outside when it hit me this time. The kids were just starting school. MQD had just started a new job. Life was rich and exciting and joyous and I was… numb. Again. And when I saw it coming like a wave and I knew that there was no chance in hell that I would be able to jump over it – well, I did the only thing I knew to do – I held my nose and went under. Marathon training was a nice little band-aid. A mid-November marathon meant I had miles to run, things to do, very little time to mope.
But still the late summer wasn’t good to me. I spoke up. I reached out. I said it out loud. “I struggle with Depression and sometimes it drags me under.” But I never wrote it here. Why? There’s no shame in my game, that’s for sure. I just didn’t have the oomph to get it all down and play catch up. By the time I started to feel decent enough to sit and write it seemed like “old news.” And then I started to feel better again, normal even. So, I was busy living.
What’s the point of all of this? Here? I don’t know. I miss writing. I miss getting it all down, the moments that slip away unless we share them. Our minds are in a constant state of sloughing off the old memories and replacing them with new and I am afraid that if I stop writing them down that they will disappear. But I fear even more this weird space where what I have shared here is not representative of the Time that has passed.
Because here’s the thing – Depression is terribly boring. Mind-numbingly dull, really. Imagine the entry I would write. “So. Today sucked. Why? Mostly because of Nothing. Everything is Fine, really, but today was super bad. But it doesn’t matter. Nobody is probably reading this anyway because I am so terrible and everyone hates me.” A few of those in a row and then a Good Day just to mix things up. “Woke up today and felt awesome. Cleaned the entire house, mowed the grass, ran 871 miles, hugged my people and had a great dinner! Everything is Awesome! I did All The Things!!”
I despise this week. The week after Thanksgiving is the worst. Christmas season is closing in and I just want to climb into bed and stay there. I love the holidays, I do. But they exhaust me. I want them to be “Perfect.” Perfect holidays? Ha! Are this week’s Blues a product of being overwhelmed by a To-Do list a mile long or is this the boomerang of Depression that never really leaves me but just takes temporary leave? The truth is, I am not sure.
I am tremendously sad that the marathon is behind me. It gave me a focus. A wise friend once shouted to some runners “You can’t run from your problems!” but I beg to differ. When your problems are just chemicals in your brain you can certainly do a decent job of waging war against them with some exercise endorphins. A new training plan and a fitness goal for 2016 will help to keep the Sad at bay, I am sure.
I reached out to another wise friend (I am surrounded by smart, good people, another reason why being Depressed is so Stupid!) just to mention that it was an uphill battle to stay out of bed this week. I pointed out that being a stay at home mother and a Depressive is like trying to get sober in a bar. When all I want out of a day is to get dressed and stay out of my bed – the stay at home part of this gig is tough. But I am going to keep on keeping on.
I miss you guys. The last six months have been terrible and wonderful all at once. There has been so much more wonderful than terrible and for that I am grateful. I am going to try to write again soon. I think that my heart needs it. But for today I just wanted to say hello. And I wanted to remind you that if you suffer from Depression or know someone who does – the holidays are hard. Reach out. Get help. You’re worth it. And you’re not alone. 
Excitement on the side 