Here where I live, Autumn has arrived. And the beauty of the change in woods where I live has eased my heart. It is beautiful to sit and revel in the colors of the leaves.

I have been reading the book Emotional Agility by Susan David. It has been very illuminating. I am gaining a better understanding of how to maneuver through the upheaval of my depression and anxiety. One of the things that keep popping up in my mind as I read is a statement or perception that I need to remember; just because I have the thought does not mean that the thought is accurate.

This reminder comes in very handy as I move through the current times in which I find myself. As I work through my current level of depression, I find myself trying to figure out how to make it to the other side with a better understanding of myself. To that end, I found a section in David’s book, where she talks about the work of James Pennebaker. 

I have read about his work of journaling to help process traumatic memories in past studies for college. I studied his work as well as dipping into it for myself some years ago. It consists, in essence, of writing about a challenging or traumatic experience for ten minutes, then you stop. You do this for a set number of days. I am not as clear on how it works as I will be once I reread his book. I have the journal, and I have the pen, I do not have the courage, at this point, to start delving. The last time I did this, it opened up many things that I was not ready to work through. But I will see where this takes me. It has to be better than where I am right now.

If either of these books interest you, I highly recommend them. You can watch Susan David’s TED talk, which is how I found out about her book. That alone is well worth your time. The James Pennebaker book is called Opening Up.