Salt and Sugar

My friend, Traveler, wrote a post on his blog after reading my last post on "Packing their tents and moving on."  He said very eloquently,

"It is easy at these times to open myself and allow my spirit to be taken to a place that is not happy or joyous but tends to be rather blue or melancholy. I've never been one of those who feels that we were ever supposed to be happy all the time, there are events in life that will always get us down but even if we bring ourselves down by remembering things and events in our life that were less than joyful this is not a bad thing. To me it is how you keep in touch with the root feeling of who you are – – it reminds you that there are things of value that were part of your life that are no longer there for one reason or another.  You must allow yourself to wallow in times that were lonely or sad and therefore caress the human side of your spirit. I think that Americans spend too much time trying to ensure they are continually happy when allowing themselves to indulge in a blue mood now and then would actually make them appreciate happiness more and make them well-rounded individuals. All those blues songs were written for a reason – – listen to the lyrics, allow the music to bathe you, and enjoy the down feeling for a moment or two."

This is very true.  Sometimes you have to know the taste of salt to understand the sugar.  Not everything is perfect.  However, I hope all my posts aren't all "singin the blues" -  It just is what it is.  That's life.  That's what I ramble about.  That's why my one follower (whoever you are) reads this crap.

I went through a period in life here in Kuwait where I was on anti-depressants.  I had a series of traumatic events happen that were life-altering and I needed to regulate my emotions.  I shouldn't have stayed on the meds as long as I did, but at that time, they really helped.  I was able to function for a time without feeling at all.  I could have been the poster child for a similar-to-Botox-induced-face; all the emotions were the same; one face for all. Nothing affected me, good or bad.

Sometimes living in Kuwait, I feel like life gets to be so routine with no real highs and no real lows.  I don't laugh as much as I do with family in Virginia, but at the same time, I don't have periods where I feel as low - or even as lonely.   Here, life is a continuity of events rather than peaks and valleys.  I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing.  Sure, melancholy sets in and I have some times that are better than others, but overall, we're talking about a flat surface rather than mountains and valleys.

Right now, I'm on a plateau.  The winter was great and I'm just waiting for summer activities to set in.  Meanwhile, Spring is my favorite time of the year.  Spring is all about re-birth and renewal.  I'm there. I'm also doing a little Spring cleaning; evaluating what I should keep and what I shouldn't.  It is all very fassssssssssscinating and I'm up for the challenge.