I switch my schedule so that all chores are done in the morning or night. If it’s really bad, I rinse off in the shower lowering the temp slowly until it feels too cold. Lots of water and crystal light. And I snack on cucumbers.

Lists are my friend. My partner and I both go through depressive episodes and are supportive when that happens. Last year I made a couple lists: things that have to happen once a year, seasonally, monthly, weekly. On top of that, lists for when I’m feeling good and when a depressive episode happens.

It’s basically a “what can fall to the wayside?” list.

So, when I struggle to get up and do anything, I force myself to get up each day for a couple things: I must brush my teeth in the morning and at night at least, I must do one thing that used to bring me joy (could be a puzzle, revisit a tv show, etc), and I must do one small chore (put some dishes away, wipe the bathroom sink, check the mail).

It’s all just stuff to try and fight without losing even more energy.

Everyone is different though. I hope you find what works best for you.

lol I wish I’d seen this before now. You’re right, but luckily Hallmark has also been growing over the last few years so that I’ve even recently joked that I can’t wait for 10 years from now when people’s idea of their movies update for the jokes. Cause they’re still formulaic movies made on a budget. Tons of fun jokes to make.

I’ve spent the last few weeks basically just watching Hallmark and Lifetime Christmas movies with my wife cause subscriptions are expensive and that’s what we picked for December. I used to say, “you can tell the difference between a Hallmark and Lifetime movie based on if they drink wine.” That’s not true anymore.

Yep, Hallmark movies used to be even worse than you brought up cause they had a ton of emotional cheating (and sometimes physical with a kiss). And don’t get me started on the military propaganda movies they still do too. lol.

But the latest crop are quite likely to have the heroine have a job she can do remotely or fall in love with a smallish town that’s close to a big city so she can commute instead of quitting her job. Or, like one I watched last night, where the Hero quits his high-powered job to become part of the Heroine’s family business so she can focus on her dreams.

And no emotional cheating! She’s either single from the start or breaks up before going back home/traveling to the small town/suburb.

It still comes from small town “oh what about a simple life” thinking. But, honestly, a lot of the gross, damaging things people associate with those movies are changing. And I think that’s a good thing.

Heck, I got to watch my wife light up cause we watched one recently about a Puerto Rican baker. Getting to see a “stupid TV movie” that had a wonderful Puerto Rican heroine and brought up how good Puerto Rican food is meant the world to her.

It still has a long way to go, but it’s changing.

Yup. Got rid of Netflix a few months ago and got rid of Hulu live about a month ago.

I received an unexpected apology almost 20 years after the fact. I had long since moved on and had no hard feelings for the person.

Before that apology, I was like most people who thought an apology like that would feel selfish or self-serving for the person giving the apology. Instead, it felt very genuine and weirdly made me feel a little better about humanity. Like, if this person can grow and come out the other side a better, happier person, then more people can too.