A Cure For The Blues.

Make something useful.

I have struggled with depression all my life. Over the years I have developed many coping strategies. Some more than successful than others. But the one strategy that seldom fails is simply to do something creative. Perhaps it’s just the act of creation that helps massage the wiring in my brain. I don’t know know the why of it. I just know that it usually works.

The process usually goes as follows:

Step one: Put an idea down on paper.

Mind you, it doesn’t have to be a great idea. In this case it was little more than a stepped box that would enable my vertically challenged wife to mount her not so vertically challenged horse. The important thing is that it was

a.) something useful.

b.) Something easy to build.

Step Two: Make a mess

This is the most important part. Lots of Hammering, sawing, and use of noisy power tools. Don’t think. Don’t judge. Don’t swear. Just build.

Step Three: Make something useful.

Once again, it is not crucial that you produce the greatest piece of furniture the world has ever seen. Perfection is not important when you are depressed. Save that for when you are feeling good.

In this case, this set of steps is one of the worst pieces of joinery I’ve ever produced. I miss-cut several pieces. Nothing lined up. It wobbled… badly. To top it off the design was so tippy I had to add two base pieces to make it stable enough to use. Didn’t matter.

The important thing here is simply that I made something useful. I completed the project. I made it work. And I feel better…. somewhat.

Tomorrow I will make another one that is perfect.