I’m going to level with you all – the last couple of months have been weird for me, and looking back, I can see now that I was Going Through It ™ while adjusting to some changes in my priorities, my work life, and my creative life.
Going Through It ™, as I’ve come to think of it, refers to the times in your life when you’re recalibrating, whatever that means to you. It could be a time of change, like starting a new job, graduating college, grieving the death of a loved one, or anything to do with starting or ending significant romantic relationships.
Or, it could be prompted by nothing at all – a depressive episode, a particularly anxious time in your life, Mercury retrograde, Saturn’s return. Whatever the cause, here are some ways to help yourself through.
Related reading: How to Glow Up Your Life, Inside and Out
Table of Contents
Take a Multivitamin
I’m seriously not here to mom you, but when you’re going through it, your diet (and subsequently, your nutrition) is one of the first things to go. Of course, a multivitamin isn’t going to replace all the benefits of eating a balanced diet full of fruits, veggies, and healthy fats but it can at least ensure you’re getting the basic vitamins you need.
If it helps (and it helps me, because I’m a child), splurge a little to get the gummies so you’ll actually enjoy taking them, like a little treat you give yourself for waking up in the morning. Otherwise, take them while you’re drinking your first 24 oz of water in the morning (see below).
Drink Water
Listen, I know you don’t need another person the internet ™ telling you to drink more water, but y’all, if you’re dehydrated and running on iced coffee alone, you’re going to have a bad time.
When I’m having a rough go of it (and, honestly, even when I’m not), I try to remember to put a big 24 oz mason jar of water by my bedside table before I go to bed. I’m almost always thirsty when I wake up, so I drain that guy and generally a second one before I’m stumbling out the door in the morning.
If you’re even more motivated in the morning, lemon water is a great way to hydrated and kickstart your metabolism. It’s as easy as squeezing half a lemon into a mug of warm water, but you can play around with adding other healing ingredients, too. In college I added a dash of turmeric, ground ginger, cayenne pepper, ACV, and a touch of honey to my lemon water also.
Make Time to Check In
If you’re grinding through your regular, grown-up life while your inner life is in shambles – getting to work, taking care of your home and family, the endless minutia of adult life – it can be really, really easy to ignore how you’re feeling and forget to to check in.
Check in, check in, check in. This is hard, this can be painful, but it’s the one thing that’s going to help you find the thing you need to actually, like, recalibrate your life and get you into the dark places you need to, y’know. Move through.
This could be anything – a break outside where you ask yourself how you’re feeling, consulting the Tarot, journaling, meditating. You already know what this thing is, and if you don’t, take this time to explore what this check-in looks like for you and what gives you the nutrients you need.
Wear Your Favorite Perfume
This may be a me thing, so if this doesn’t do it for you, then disregard, but when I’m having a rough go of it, anything that makes me feel more centered and like myself is something that I try to make time to do, especially if it’s as easy as putting on perfume in the morning.
The perfumes that I love – that remind me of certain times in my life when I felt centered, when I felt certain of myself, when I wasn’t staring down the void – help to remind me that I didn’t always feel the way that I feel now. They tell me that I’m still the same person at my core, despite the crap the universe is throwing at me.
The small act of putting on perfume, of doing a luxurious thing when I can’t even bring myself to wash my face or brush my teeth, makes me feel just a little bit more put together, and like I’m putting on armor for the day, but the armor is who I was and who I could be. I dunno. If this resonates with you, by all means love, remember to wear your favorite perfume when you’re going through it.
Stock Your Freezer
The last of the things having to do with eating and drinking: when I’m Going Through It, all I want to eat is Indian takeaway and Taco Bell because I hardly have the energy to cook and want to self-soothe with tasty things. And yet, eating only fast food is a one-way ticket to feeling like crap all the time, which is not going to help you when you’re already struggling.
This one requires you to be a little more proactive, but next time you make something like your favorite soup or rice dish, set some aside to freeze so all you have to do later is thaw and nuke. Or, put together some dump meals that you can just throw in the crock-pot.
If you’re feeling particularly intrepid, stock your freezer with frozen fruits and veggies, like peas, spinach, and carrots. If you want to cook at some point, you can easily toss these into soups, stir-fries, or even pastas if you want to get a little more nutritional bang for your buck.
Even if you’re just heating up ramen noodles or easy mac, adding some frozen peas and spinach can make a world of difference, even if it’s just making you feel better about stuffing yourself with comfort food.
Do One Thing That Makes You Happy
When all you want to do is eat ice cream and watch Netflix or like, never get out of bed, it can seem like those things are what make you happy. But here, I’m talking about things that nourish your soul and make you happy, not the things that indulge the little hedonist voice that’s pulling you further down into the void.
Take a walk and smell your neighbor’s peonies. Draw something, read a poem, write a haiku. Play your favorite dumb song at full volume and dance around your home. Do yoga, or look at old photographs of your grandparents when they were your age. You know what makes you happy, really happy. Do that, even if it’s for like five minutes. But carve out time to do it every day, even if it’s just to remind yourself of who you are at your core.
What do you think?
How do you get Through It? Do you have self-care tips for someone who’s struggling? Have you tried any of these things? Let me know in the comments below!