I won’t paste her whole post, but it’s worth reading. It’s like Elizabeth Gilbert can see right into my wheelhouse. All of this, exactly, and this is why I never bothered putting a lot of furniture or decor in my Sad Singleton apartment. (By the way, I’m not an idiot — I’m sure writing, like, a bajillion-dollar Oprah-endorsed didn’t suck as far as helping Gilbert get right with life, but I enjoy the general idea.)
“I almost went furniture shopping, in other words, to decorate my rut.“I almost made that rut my permanent address.“But some other, more stubborn, part of me, was like: ‘NO. We’re getting the hell out of here.’“If you keep doing the things that take care of you, the general direction will be upward. It may be slow and twisted, but it will be mostly upward. You will rise. No matter how long it takes.“In my case, the things that took care of me were: therapy, prayer, meditation, exercise, antidepressants, the solace of good friends, the comfort of reading good books, the practice of forgiveness and atonement, exposure to nature, looooooong walks, heart-opening acts of generosity, sometimes awkward attempts at self-compassion, listening to non-sad beautiful music, trying to get perspective on the human condition through philosophical study, trying to distract myself by learning Italian, getting rid of objects that held bad memories, setting boundaries with people who hurt or shamed me, moving to a new place…etc, etc.”
Smug Singleton 