Things That Cheer Me Up When I'm Feeling Blue

I'm going to be quite honest: I've been feeling a little blue lately (pssst! That's code for "depressed"). Without getting into it too deeply (because then anyone who reads this would literally have to bill me because this would technically be a therapy session and I don't have the money for that! But nice *free* comments in the comment section are always appreciated), I've been feeling a little stuck and directionless in where I am in life and frankly where I want to be in life. I just have no idea what job or career or even LIFE is right for me now. So I'm a bit discouraged and kind of low right now, hence the blues.

I hate feeling this way: some days I feel okay and can put the blues on the back burner, but other days, my whole world is a dark cerulean hue and I just want to wallow in my own self pity. But I'm determined to get out of this depressive rut, which leads me to this post. I have compiled a list of all of the ways that help cheer me up when I have the blues. Sometimes these tips help, sometimes they don't, but honestly, just trying one or several of them is distraction enough to help pull me out of the well from The Ring (just call me Samara. Oh my god, that's kind of a genius analogy. Screw my original analogy of depression being like you're stuck under water, I'm going with my Ring analogy from now on! The creepy vibe suits me better anyway) and get me sort-of-kind-of back on track (or at least near the track). I hope my tips can help you too, if you've been feeling a little down lately as well. Maybe you've tried all of my suggestions or maybe you haven't, but honestly, it doesn't hurt to try any of those listed below! (Especially the cuddling with a furry animal one. We all deserve more cuddles with cute, furry pets!)

So here is my list of all the things I do when I'm feeling blue! ☔

1) Cuddle With a Cute Furry Animal*
What's the point of having a pet if you can't cuddle with it in times of need? I've lost count of the times I've held my cat Harriet and cried, as she tries to crawl out of my arms and then eventually just settles in because she knows I need it ("I'm feeling sad, why won't you let me just cuddle with you???"). But she also has that sixth sense of knowing when I need company. There have been many times where I've been in my room, feeling sad, and she comes sauntering in and rubs up against me like, "you feeling sad? It's okay, human, I'm here now. Pet me and you'll feel better." And you know what? It always helps!

*Or whatever textured pet you have

2) Read An Old Favorite Book
There's nothing like diving into a book you've never read and experiencing a brand new story and adventure, but usually when I'm feeling down about life, an old favorite is the way to go. Reading a Harry Potter book is my go to (especially the new illustrated versions!), but I also love re-reading old childhood and tween favorites like A Series of Unfortunate Events (because you'll probably never have it quite as bad as the Baudelaire orphans), the Georgia Nicolson series (who doesn't like Angus the cat and little sister Libby? Name a more iconic duo, I'll wait!), and anything by Louis Sachar, Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary, Roald Dahl, Bruce Coville, and Sharon Creech, just to name a few! Those books instantly transport me back to my childhood, even just for a half hour or so. But  sometimes a little nostalgic literary break from your current gloomy mood is all you need to help you get through the day.

3) Hang Out With Friends
This is an obvious one, but it's easy to retreat from others when you're feeling down. Which is the complete opposite of what you should be doing, because once I drag myself out of the house and I'm with my friends, I forget about my worries for however long I'm with them and it's such a nice vacation from my worrying mind and troubles. Plus, I always feel lighter after I've had a catch up sesh/gab session/heart to heart and I feel much more determined after to feel better so I can see them even more. My friends know that I struggle sometimes but they don't have to say a word to let me know that they're there for me. And after you hang out with your friends, you start to believe that old saying that laughter really IS the best medicine. (Honestly, is there anything better than your stomach being sore from laughing so much? That's the only sort of pain I'd wish on someone!)

4) Go For a Walk
Exercise is like, my third least favorite thing to do (behind going to the dentist and taking tests), but I have to admit, doing any kind of exercise makes you feel a whole lot better. Doing anything active when you're feeling glum will definitely help raise your spirits, especially if you change your location by going for a walk or a run (plus, it's free!). Getting out and getting active (as annoying as it is. Seriously, do some really athletic people just love sweating or something??) is key and will help more than you realize. And you don't even have to sign up for Crossfit or any other expensive, borderline cult exercise program to do it!

5) Organize!
Go through old clothes, trinkets, photos in your room/closet/home/junk drawer. It'll stir up fun and nostalgic memories and remind you that there's life outside your depression- even if it doesn't seem like it at the time. Also, if you find something you don't wear or use, give it away! The less cluttered you are, the more put together your life will feel, trust me. Plus, there's something sort of cathartic about giving your unused stuff away. Begone tickets stubs from all the movies I saw with my ex! Goodbye favorite sweater from three years ago that doesn't fit anymore and I have no use for but I kept it just in case! Organizing is a seriously underrated therapeutic exercise.

6) Watch A Favorite TV Show Episode (or Two)
Binge-watching may not be the cure for what ails you (apparently not being productive doesn't help being depressed, go figure), but small doses can help. There are a few TV shows that never fail to put a smile on my face, and just re-watching a favorite episode can be enough to give me that warm, fuzzy feeling, or to make my sad tears turn into the happy tears you get from laughing. The Office (the US version), Parks & Recreation, and I Love Lucy, and Gilmore Girls are all shows I turn to when I need to turn my frown upside down (I really hate that I just typed that. I really, really do) and provide the perfect distraction for maybe just a half hour or at least 42 minutes. Also, how can you feel sad when you're watching the perfect couple that is April and Andy from Parks & Rec? They are seriously (weird) couple goals! (Ben and Leslie are a close second, don't worry!)

7) Do Something Thoughtful For Someone Else
This is something I always forget to do when I'm feeling blue. I just get so focused on myself and my own troubles that I sometimes forget that there are other people in the world (that's an exaggeration, by the way), going through their own struggles. Which is why when I get too down on myself, I try to shift my focus on others instead of myself. From planning the perfect birthday or Christmas present for someone, reaching out to a friend I haven't talked to in a while via text or Facebook to just say "hey, I've been thinking of you!" and volunteering (I've recently started volunteering at a food bank, boxing up food for those in need), taking a break from thinking of yourself and your gloomy thoughts and putting others first is a great way to regain your perspective on yourself and life. Plus, it's productive and you're being thoughtful at the same time! Wouldn't you want to receive a little random act of kindness every once in a while? You never know who else may need a pick me up! It's amazing how one little gesture can change your whole day. And I bet you that after doing something good for someone else, that karma will come back around to you. So spread that love and be thoughtful!

8) Look At Real Estate Online

Hear me out! I know this sounds super weird, but it literally never fails to cheer me up. Looking up houses on real estate sites in other cities or even other countries, is so much fun. Yes, everything I look at I could never afford and are located in places I'll probably never even visit- but it sure is fun to look at the super fancy, super expensive ones that are for sale and think, "Well, I never would have spent thousands of dollars and made it look like that!" or "I totally would have done this instead! Ugh, rich people." Plus, I love looking at cottages in picturesque country towns in England and imagining a quiet, simple English life, where I'm just a train ride away from London- where, of course, I also have a house. And don't get me started on French chateaus and castles! (Because I totally own at least one French chateau and castle in my imaginary, unlimited income life) Plus, it's fun to pretend how you'd decorate said home (or castle, cottage, or chateau). Add a Beauty and the Beast-esque library? Of course! Build a secret passageway? Duh! Design a large hedge maze in your giant backyard? Sign me up! Is this all silly and unrealistic? Totally! But fun, creative, and distracting? Heck yeah! Because sometimes that's all you need in a dark moment. A look into the bright, not-so-distant future, even if the one you're currently thinking of is imaginary.

But just remember: you may feel down now, but I promise you, it won't last forever and it will get better (That's been my new mantra lately). I promise. 😘

*If you're feeling depressed, please find someone to talk to, whether it's an understanding family member, friends, or health professional. There's no reason to feel alone when you're feeling depressed and it's totally okay to ask for help or support!*

What did you think of my list of things that cheer me up? What do you do to get yourself out of a gloomy mood? Let me know in the comments!

Stay Weird,
Emily

What Do You Do If Your Pottermore Patronus Result Doesn't Fit Your Personality?

Pottermore/That Weird Girl Life

If you're a Harry Potter fan, it's more than likely that you have a Pottermore account. Because if you're a fan, why wouldn't you want extra information about the characters, creatures, and events of the wizarding world? But the biggest draw for fans? The quizzes to see which Hogwarts house you'd be sorted into (you know, if you were actually a witch or wizard and lived in the British wizarding world), what wand you'd have, what Ilvermorny house you'd be sorted into (you know, if you were actually a witch or wizard and lived in the American wizarding world), and now what animal your Patronus would take it's shape as! (Would it be your favorite animal? An animal that represents you? Who knows but we were about to find out!!) I, along with every other HP fan, was ecstatic and had to take the quiz RIGHT THIS SECOND. Even though I was actually in my hotel's lobby/lounge area/bar in Paris at the time, trying to talk to my father and also trying to take the quiz in a very loud and crowded hotel lobby.

But when I took the quiz, something bad happened. Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention to the quiz, maybe I was paying attention, but my results were... unexpectedly bad, in my opinion. Let me walk you through it.

Let's start with my original Pottermore account. I joined Pottermore back when you could explore it chapter by chapter and you could collect items, duel with other users, and brew potions (which were super hard to do. You have no idea how many times I tried to make the Polyjuice potion so I could advance to the next chapter. It took months. MONTHS! And then Pottermore stopped with the whole exploring each book's chapters thing so all of my hard work was lost). But before I joined Pottermore I didn't have a Hogwarts house I even identified with, so I was so eager to find out which house I truly belonged to. Because you can take as many unauthorized online sorting quizzes but everyone knows that the Pottermore quiz is the only true definite quiz of it's kind, mainly because it was conceived by JK Rowling herself.

Here are the results from my original Pottermore account from years back!

My Original Pottermore Account

My Wand:

Pottermore/That Weird Girl Life

Not knowing anything really about wands, I was perfectly happy with my results. Unicorn hair? Cool! (Ethically sourced at least, I hoped. Do they just yank those hairs out of a unicorn's mane or tail??) Quite Bendy and flexible? Whatever, I HAVE A WAND!!

My Hogwarts House:

Pottermore/That Weird Girl Life

I remembered being a little disappointed when I was first sorted into Ravenclaw. After reading the books, who didn't want to be a Gryffindor? But after remembering the most memorable and unique Ravenclaw of them all aka the magnificent Luna Lovegood, I was totally okay with everything that being a Ravenclaw stood for: being intelligent (I wish), sharp (sometimes, but only in humor, not meanness), wise (only when giving advice to friends but never taking the advice myself), and individuality (aka being weird. Totally me!!). But I do have some rather Hufflepuff qualities like patience (towards others, not myself), loyalty, and fairness (I hate cheating of any kind). But I think being placed in Ravenclaw really identifies with my odd spirit and interests. I think it's safe to say that if Luna and I had gone to Hogwarts together, we totally would have been best friends. No one would call her Loony on MY watch!

My Ilvermorny House:

Pottermore/That Weird Girl Life

Since the news of the American wizarding school Ilvermorny was just announced last year, we've only had JK Rowling's writing to go on about the qualities of each house. Each of Ilvermorny's houses is named after a magical creature from North America. The Horned Serpent, the house I was sorted into, represents the mind of a wizard or witch, and favors scholars. Even though JK Rowling wrote that the Ilvermorny houses are totally different from the Hogwarts houses, I feel like the Horned Serpent house is the American version of Ravenclaw. Which I'm perfectly fine with, because that means if I were actually a witch I would have gone to a wizarding school right here in the good ol' US of A! Though I'd still be down to be a foreign exchange student studying abroad at Hogwarts..

Which leads me to last September, on that fateful night in Paris where I tried to take the Patronus quiz on my phone. I was distracted, tired, jet lagged, but so eager to figure out what my Patronus would be (who doesn't need protection from dementors?). But I had no idea there was a time limit (sort of) and I may have not been paying close enough attention to the questions that were given to me. And so I ended up with THIS as my Patronus:

My *sob* Patronus:

Pottermore/That Weird Girl Life

WHAT??? What. The. NOOOO! A blackbird? A BLACKBIRD???

Pottermore/That Weird Girl Life

No. No. No. No. This will not stand! A bird? My Patronus is a freaking BIRD? This is the magical animal guardian produced by the Patronus spell that will protect me from dementors? Um, I think not. I'm sure a blackbird is a fine Patronus for some other witch or wizard, but for me? Nope. Not at all.

My main question: how does a blackbird represent me?? How?? The quiz doesn't give an explanation at all for WHY a blackbird would be my Patronus. So for that reason alone and for the fact that the only use for blackbirds is in a nursery rhyme about having four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie and LITERALLY NO ONE WANTS BLACKBIRD PIE, I reject the idea/conclusion that a blackbird of all animals is my Patronus!!!

Basically, I was just a tad bit upset about my Pottermore Patronus results (I'm sure you may have noticed). I knew in my heart of hearts that a blackbird was surely NOT my Patronus, so after waiting a while and ruminating over this very (not) serious problem, I decided to do the unthinkable: make a new Pottermore account and take the damn quiz again.

Here are the (hopefully) better results from the Patronus quiz that I took, where I made sure that I was NOT distracted nor in a foreign country (that honestly the best way to take an important quiz, anyway):

My New Pottermore Account

My Wand:

Pottermore/That Weird Girl Life

First it was a unicorn hair that was my wand core and now it's a Phoenix feather? Whatever, it's a wand. As long as the Phoenix feather didn't come from the same bird as a Dark Lord, I think I'm good. The first wand seems more girly and honestly looks prettier so I think I'm going to stick with my first wand (but of course my ideal wand looks-wise would be a mix of Hermione's and Luna's from the HP movies, duh).

My Hogwarts House:

Pottermore/That Weird Girl Life

Now, THIS was interesting! I've always felt like in some ways I was quite a Ravenpuff, but now it has been officially confirmed! I bet if the Sorting Hat had been placed on my head, I would have been one of those hat stalls, where it takes the Sorting Hat forever to place a student. Because if the Sorting Hat would have asked me if I'd rather live in a tower with fellow weirdos or live near the kitchens behind a giant portrait of fruit that you have to tickle the pear to get into the common room, I'd be incredibly torn and it would just have to make the decision for me. Thank goodness I'm not in charge of things! But in all honesty, I do now identify with being a Ravenclaw, with some Hufflepuff qualities. The two most underrated Hogwarts houses, IMHO. (Don't hex me, Slytherins and Gryffindors!)

My Ilvermorny House:

Pottermore/That Weird Girl Life

Hmmm.... Pottermore sorted me into the Pukwudgie Ilvermorny house. Pukwudgie represents the heart of a witch or wizard and favors healers. Again, no offense JK, but Pukwudgie also seems to be the American counterpart to another Hogwarts house, only this time Hufflepuff. Doesn't that description of Pukwudgie exactly describe a fair and loyal Hufflepuff? I don't know about this "healer" thing because honestly I tend to faint at the sight of blood (my own and others). But the whole representing the heart I'm here for!

I took all of the other quizzes first and saved this for last. My Patronus. My REAL Patronus, not a dumb blackbird. And for now...the moment of truth:

My Patronus (aaaaaahhhh it better not be a bird and if it is a bird it better at least be a frickin' cute Kiwi bird!!):

Pottermore/That Weird Girl Life

Oh em gee it's a kitty cat!!!! Yay!!! And not just any cat, a GINGER cat! Soooo much better than a boring ol' blackbird!

Pottermore/That Weird Girl Life

Look how cute it is, leaping about all misty and stuff! I wonder what having a ginger cat represents. Does it mean I'm secretly scrappy or that I need a scrappy magical creature guardian to protect me? Or did the quiz somehow know that I was a cat person and that just any old animal wouldn't do because honestly I'm always covered in cat hair and I get excited and squeal whenever I see a cat, even it's a stray and have to make it's acquaintance and that cats just make everything in life better so it obviously had to be a cat?? 

But who cares, I have a GINGER CAT as my Patronus!!

Pottermore/That Weird Girl Life

So is this my official Patronus? I have no idea. The Pottermore quizzes are probably the most definitive on the internet, as JK Rowling had a hand in coming up with them (being the mastermind of the wizarding world that she is), but we'll never truly know what our actual wands, houses, and Patronuses we'd actually have unless we actually lived in the wizarding world. So until JK finally outs the wizarding world and most of us HP fans finally realize we're all actually wizards and witches, we'll just have to settle for our Pottermore versions and what we actually feel in our hearts.

Did I cheat to find a Patronus that I actually identified with? Hell yes. Do I feel bad for doing it? Hell no. It was completely worth it. I love my cute lil ginger cat Patronus! As long as I have it and a pocketful of chocolate, I'll be prepared for any dementor that I come into contact with!

Stay Weird,
Emily

Have any of you taken the Patronus quiz on Pottermore? What animal did you get? Were you happy with your results or did you utterly hate them like I did? Let me know in the comments!