How to take care of yourself when you're sad and drained

I've got the post graduation blues.

Like a time lapse video,
every daily repetitive motion like

making coffee, eating breakfast, getting on the train to school,

getting to school, working, working

working away into the night, coming home and forcing myself to close my eyes

as my brain continues working,
feels exhausting and unreal.

Suddenly I gave my thesis presentation and was walking across the stage to collect
my degree.

It was all over.

I had accomplished my big master plan that I had sketched out three years ago as I was graduating college. Everything I written down, drawn, planned for it was done and dusted. The video ended.

Now it was me, who has to wake up from the daze of going through the motions and make more plans. However before I do that I found that I am so sad and drained. Here is a list of things that I've found helpful in taking care of me, myself and I.

via GIPHY

1. Make your bed comfortable. Nest yourself in the gentle embrace of goose feathers, fabrics and other fluttery. Its a glorious feelings once you start to practice sleeping and enjoying laying in bed without feeling guilty about things that need to get done. So the first step is to buy beautiful sheets in colors you like because you will be spending a ridiculous amount of time on it during this stage.

2. Eat. Think about food. Research recipes, watching cooking shows. Surround yourself with images of food. At first this is repulsive and will make you sick and annoyed but keep at it. Keep feeding yourself three or more meals a day. Start small. Imagine you are showering affection to someone by feeding them, except the someone is you.

3. Read positive things. Go deep into the inter-webs for self-care and happy images. Follow spiritual guides and good vibes only on instagram. Look at pictures of places you still haven't visited or even moments from other people's lives. Obviously not the images that give you fomo but the beautiful ones like a pupper running to catch a frisbee, or a cat rolling over to be pet, or a sunset or waves crashing. Whatever brings you serenity. Look at it often. Make it your screensaver if you have to.

4. Go on long walks and adventures. This sounds like it has to be planned but trust me its easier than it sounds. Just get dressed, put on some shoes, take a notebook and just keep walking in any direction. Go where you body takes you, do what it wants you to do, act on all the impulses. If it feels like laying on the grass, lay on it, if it feels like staring up at clouds then stare up at clouds. Do this everyday for a set amount of time. I give myself an hour, you can do longer but obviously not shorter. Anything less is like a meeting which you shouldn't attend when you're headspace is all woozy and not here.

5. Find new music. I've been enjoying this Spotify genre called Bedroom Pop and then there is this one channel called Beat Therapy on Youtube. Those are my vibes and they resonate with me.

This is my list so far. I will update it if I start to do a new thing that works for me.

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