A Guide for Anxious Humans
Recently, the principles of Feng Shui—an ancient Chinese art which advocates a system of placement within a space to harmonise various energies—became incredibly important to me.
(By sheer coincidence, there was an unpleasant job I didn’t want to do, and spending the afternoon rearranging my office seemed preferable.)
“Look after yourself,” suggests a well-meaning friend.
“Um, thanks…” I respond—but privately, I bristle. What else am I going to do?! Not look after myself?
And yet… I absolutely need to be told this, because every single day I fail to take care of myself through dozens of poor, tiny decisions.
Trying not to do something is a trap. If you’re stuck, reframe it as a positive action.
The Big Lebowski is one of my favourite movies. I could go on – at length – about why. Although I’m not going to, so this GIF will have to suffice: via GIPHY One quote from the film that’s always stuck with me is “compulsively and without joy“. I’m not sure why, perhaps there’s just…
Recently I got a haircut. And, as you might expect, nothing particularly surprising happened. But, as I was paying, the hairdresser asked a question. “Do you have 50p by any chance?” Immediately I sprang into action. I searched rapidly, poring through my wallet, tipping coins into my hand and picking out the right change for…
Let’s summarise The Story So Far of this initial exploration of anxiety. And because I’m dangerously over-organised, let’s do it as a list: It wasn’t obvious to me that I even had anxiety, despite being constantly anxious forever. My first instinct was to hide it, repress it, and pretend everything was okay… but that just…