What to do with the Sadness
I feel sad more often than I would like. This statement may surprise some, as my go-to mood is typically a cautiously optimistic, comedic storyteller who loves God, family, and country (ha, that last one, though). While I think those moods describe me, I can become quite sad in the stillness and quiet. Although it’s not the silence or the aloneness that creates the sadness, I don’t think. Sadness is just a part of who I am. I sit deep in that feelings pocket, and it doesn’t feel like there is a way out.
So what do I do?
Well, nothing.
If it’s one thing that I learned from the beloved Pixar film Inside Out, it is that sadness is not bad but needed. An integral part of the human experience. To recap, step one: don’t vilify sadness. Step two, after leaning into said sadness: see what tomorrow brings. It’s funny how the promises of tomorrow are terribly futile yet surprisingly sufficient. Tomorrow could always be worse than today, but for whatever reason, I choose to believe it won’t be. Besides, my sadness is not often rooted in a dire circumstance; it’s just how I feel. I suppose looking to tomorrow would count as doing something, but I don’t see it that way. I see the progression more passively, like this:
I feel sad today. It is okay to feel sad; tomorrow is a new day, perhaps a better one.
-L