All the king's men...

I should paint you a different scenario than the one I always paint and that's the one in which I always sit and have coffee and cigarettes. I'm afraid it is no different this night however and that's exactly what I'm doing. If anything, I am predctable, which is saying a lot for someone who is bipolar. At least there are some things that are always true about me. I do have some routines that never change. 

It's nice to be somewhat predictable. You do feel that people can count on you in some regards  and I do have my steady habits. I am a ritualistic woman and like to perform the same little actions every day at certain times. Very often they do involve peaceful times and coffee and cigarettes. I must have been dreaming when I thought I could give up that combination. It is such a part of my contemplative existence. 

I was depressed earlier during the day and had accepted that. It is a mood I am familiar with and I know how to handle myself under those circumstances. I was not really fighting it. I let it wash over me like a big wave from a vast ocean. I knew I wouldn't drown in it and would somehow manage to keep my head above water.

Now, during the night, as is usual, things don't seem as dire, but then they never are in the silence and peacefulness of the darkness. I feel relatively safe because the world is asleep and nobody can harm me and it isn't as if people are lined up down the street waiting to do so. That's just my subconscious imagination at work. It's a vague feeling of discomfort that I carry with me.

I should feel safer than I do, but because I'm alone I never quite do. I always feel a little bit haunted by the world around me and never completely at ease. It's like I always expect an attack from the outside and I always have to be vigilant. Maybe it is that way for everybody and we all feel that way. Does anyone feel safe?

I'm drinking ice cold milk and very good it tastes too. It's like having a bowl of ice cream. I wish I really had one of those, but there's no such thing in the freezer. Ice cold milk is the closest I can come to it and I consider that lucky. It does cheer me up and my stomach likes it too. It's gently growling instead of loudly protesting like it used to. The medicine for it does work. 

My headache is slowly getting better. This is the fifth day that I've got it but it's not nearly as bad as it was. I've just taken another paracetamol and I should be rid of the pain in just a little while. It's a long lasting headache, that's for sure. I don't think I've ever had a headache for that long a time. 

I should think about going back to bed. There are some hours left to sleep until it's morning. I've got to take care to get enough sleep. 

Ciao,

Irene

It's about time...

I'm sitting here with a much needed cup of coffee pretending that the day is much more entertaining than it really is. I've done my chores and walked the dog and there's nothing left for me to do. I have to try and fill the remaining hours of the afternoon and they seem to stretch endlessly ahead me.

I try very much to live in the moment and to not project myself forward in time too much. I'm trying to stay in the here and now and not worry about what I'm going to do an hour from now. If I stay in the moment, chances are that each moment will bring its own solution and that I will enjoy it as it happens. 

If I learned anything from Mindfulness, it is that. It's not something that comes to me automatically. I do have to make the effort and repeatedly tell myself to not start thinking ahead of time. But if I do make the effort, the peacefulness is very rewarding. 

The problem is that I can't only stay in the moment and write a blog post. That would get awfully boring. I would not have anything to write about but telling you that I was contemplating my navel. My navel does not have that much depth. There are other things to discuss that are more interesting.

The means to hang on to your sanity differ with the circumstances of your life. If the circumstances were different, my coping mechanisms would be different too. Fate has me living this kind of life for now, but it could just as easily be completely the opposite. I would magically make other coping skills appear out of thin air if I had to. I have to prepare myself for my window of opportunity.

Sometimes you have to live your life as if there's a safety net in place and assume that you're going to land safely. That means that you have to be willing to take chances. I've been living my life too carefully and am going to put a stop to that now. I'm going to do more things that I'm uncomfortable with doing. I will tell myself there's a saftey net. 

And now I will go and move to the next moment. 

Ciao,

Nora

The sound of silence...

There doesn't seem to be much pleasure in drinking coffee lately. I don't get the kick out of it that I normally do. I used to count on it really carrying a punch and waking me up well, but nowadays it doesn't do that anymore. I hardly seem to notice the effects of it. I still drink one or two cups when I wake up, but it doesn't give me the pleasure that it used to. That heady feeling that I used to get is not there anymore. 

It's a shame that this is so because I used to look forward to my cup of coffee and the way it made me feel. I could always count on the rush it gave me. Now that I don't get this anymore, I sit here like a dull person and have to stimulate myself, which is a much harder thing to do. I have to try to get excited when I really don't feel that way very much. I've come to depend on the coffee too much. Now I'm just addicted to the caffeine without the fringe benefits. 

Hopefully this is a temporary situation and I will be back to normal soon. I will once again be stimulated by the caffeine and be my old jolly self. I've already started to make the coffee stronger in order to get some effect. I can't stay this dull person forever, it just will not do. I'm counting on a little bit of life force in these posts. A little bit of joie de vivre. 

It's in the middle of the night and I'm almost content sitting here. Underneath it all shimmers the layer of dissatisfaction that I feel all the time now in some measure. It goes from mild irritation to outright stress and slight panic. The medication helps, but during the day I have a hard time and am not happy. I'm glad when the day is over and it is evening and I can put on my pajamas and bathrobe. That's when I'm most at ease. 

I tell myself that it's because I've had all my medication for the day and that its accumulated effect is working for me, but it may be that the evening, like the night, is the safest time of the day for me. The blinds are closed, the lights are on, and nothing bad will happen. I look forward to going to bed where I will listen to the radio for a while before I fall asleep. It seems to be all about keeping safe and out of harm's way. I feel exposed during the day and at danger of the unexpected. 

In reality, I'm safe inside the apartment and I'm even safe when I take Tyke out for walks. Nothing bad ever happens. They're my own thoughts that haunt me. I imagine terrible things will happen that never do. It's the anticipation of them that makes it hard. 

I have to try and make a better day of it today. Yesterday was a complete waste of time. I didn't get anything accomplished and just survived. I have to do better today. There are some chores that I have to do and I have to arrange my day differently and better. 

Taking a nap in the afternoon is turning out not to be such a success because I wake up in a bad mood and it takes me a while to get over it. I spend precious time trying to pull myself together and it is a painful process. I should spend that time sitting in my armchair reading a book with a nice cup of tea. As if that is too much of an effort. 

I think I will go back to bed. I'm not quite done sleeping yet, although there is some temptation to stay up and change my whole schedule around. Maybe I will do that yet. I could stay up and sit in my armchair and read my book and wait for the morning to start. I can arrange my day as I see fit, after all. I did say it is time to make some changes. 

Have a good day everyone.

Ciao,

Nora