Carried on great winds

Julia ♦ June 19, 2021 ♦ Leave a comment

A seagull soars over the Atlantic Ocean at Dam Neck, Virginia, June 2014

“Sometimes I go about pitying myself, and all the time I am being carried on great winds across the sky.”― Ojibwe dream song

No matter how often I remind myself that despondency always passes, I have a remarkably hard time being the least bit optimistic when I am feeling low.  I can know and remember that such times have come and gone before, but feeling the reality of that truth is a different matter.  There is something pervasive and suffocating about depression, especially when it follows a great loss or trial that has left us with no energy to rise above our sadness.

Fortunately, it doesn’t depend on us to make it go away.  There are times when we should take action to protect ourselves against depression by seeing a medical professional, to consider medication or counseling.  But often, we can help ourselves survive if we learn to recognize and accept the changing seasons of our moods, and learn from them.

I believe that sorrow has much to teach us, and if we are willing to wait, we will emerge from it wiser and maybe even happier than we were before.  Meanwhile, we can take comfort from knowing that many, many others have defeated despair, and understand how difficult the battle can be.  Know that you are not alone — and ride the great winds until your wings are strong enough to fly again.

One year ago today:

Just the thing

This post was first published seven years ago today. The original post, comments and photo are linked, along with two other related posts, below. These links to related posts, and their thumbnail photos, do not appear in the blog feed; they are only visible when viewing the individual posts by clicking on each one. I have no idea why, nor do I know how they choose the related posts. That’s just the way WordPress does things.