my favorite coping strategies

... include watching several selected television programs, mostly on Netflix. Right now it is Mad Men and Kids in the Hall ("I'm crushing your head!"). Earlier it was Dexter and Breaking Bad.

I love to read, mostly novels (it's about the escapism, of course), but also non-fiction, in the form of parenting books, cook books, books on social justice and environmentalism and mental health. I explore the internet, mostly facebook, but also the Oatmeal.

I'm loving everything to do with shame researcher Brene Brown these days, including her new book, Daring Greatly, her blog, the TED talk, and Oprah (part 1 and 2).

I go for walks. I am so happy it is spring. I used to garden (but now I'm in an apartment, so I have a window box). In the winter, I take a lot of baths.

I sit with my children and I am interested in what they are doing. Even if it is mine craft and video games and fart jokes. They are a delight and I am so grateful, even when they are cheeky (my stepson is quite funny, how can one get mad?) or sulky (my son reminds me, painfully, of myself at that hormonal age. How can one not become disregulated?!)

I try to laugh. I talk to my friends. I stay up too late, numbing my feelings of anxiety with tv and internet and chocolate and chips. I volunteer, at the crisis line and with a youth organization. I visit my parents.

I suffer from seasonal depressive symptoms, but not to the point that I've ever sought a diagnosis. I manage. It's hard, though, and I fight with my husband and I feel despair.

I am trying to learn to practice gratitude and love and hope. I am learning that these are not feelings, they are more than that. They are daily investments of intention.

I breathe with utmost attention and care. Deep, cleansing breaths. Yoga breaths.

I meditate.