I set my drink down at the same time as my wife.
“Oh, we are synchronized,” I smiled
.This day has been slow and relaxing enough to notice those small details.
Last year, I ended the podcast - part of me wishes I could run a live tabletop roleplaying game podcast like Tabletop Stories forever and run retreats and game nights all the while spending my off days prepping for more games.
Not because I simply want to spend my life playing, (which would be awesome) but because I believe I did sacred work as a game master. As one of my students said, “it’s not therapy, but sure is therapeutic.” Years later, I disagree - it WAS therapy, just not traditional “talk therapy”.
So, this post is dedicated to all of the free therapy out there that you are probably missing in your life. Talk therapy is great, but doesn’t meet every need. So, if talk therapy isn’t working - try the numerous other therapeutic tricks to get you feeling good again.
Join a local, in person, Dungeons and Dragons game. It activates your imagination, helps you connect to people with one degree of separation, and builds your articulation skills. It’s like public speaking, without the fear.
Go for a daily walk - no matter what. So many times we cancel plans because of a hiccup in our schedule. Cancel too many plans and you become a slave to circumstance. In order to retain agency in your life - do 1 thing, like a daily walk, that you promise to yourself you won’t cancel. Build trust with yourself.
Learn to bake/cook/preserve food - start from scratch with one simple recipe and keep a journal of how many new foods you can cook. Become a hero in the kitchen and watch your life reach new levels of heat and spice. I started with making my own biscuits and pancakes.
Turn off your blue light devices (phones, TVs, computers) before bedtime. I’m not sure of the details behind it, but the light on the screens screws with your ability to get a good night sleep. Poor sleep means sad body and brain fog. Be therapeutic to yourself and get a good nights sleep.
Speaking of sleep, when you wake up - spend 15 minutes journaling and then 5 minutes standing outside. Do this before checking your phone for the day. The point is to connect with body and spirit before digital - since you are body and spirit. Feed that first.
Care for something. People make babies, walk dogs, water plants, refurbish cars, remodel kitchens, check on grandpa, grow gardens, and carve wooden spoons (my daughter is doing this now) - ALL because we need to care for something in order to complete the reciprocal cycle of giving and receiving. Love is a two way street and sometimes, the answer is to give more. You may not receive love in the way you thought, but believe me, if you give, you will receive. Them’s the rules, and I aim to follow.
You know you are doing therapy right when you lose track of time long enough to notice those sweet synchronous moments where you say, “ha, I’m alive.”