Coping is Harder Than It Looks

    

Coping is a very personal journey, and I have been lucky enough to find resources that support me through my times. But these coping mechanisms don't work for everyone, so take everything I say with a grain of salt. For me, dance has always been an outlet for my frustrations and a place and thing to turn to when times get rough. I specifically remember a time when I was 16, and dance was really there for me. When I was 16, I had a dog, his name was Rubble. Now let's get this straight, Rubble was my baby, he was more my dog than anyone else. But when I was 16, he suddenly passed away. I missed a lot of school around that time, but I always went to dance after those first few days. Dance was the one place that was consistent, and I wasn’t as affected as I was by Rubble's death. I went back to dance two days after because we had pictures for our spring show. I didn’t really want to go, but I also didn’t know what else to do because all I had been doing was crying, so I went back to dance.

 As I've gotten older I know of more things to do when things get hard. Even though I was a big hater of journaling I have learned to love it. I know it is very hit or miss for most people when it comes to journaling but I do have to say, don’t knock it til you try it. I think that I didn’t like it because of the stereotypes around journaling and diarying. As a young girl, I was always teased or told that I should have a diary or that I should go write about something in a diary. I grew up hating everything that marked me as a stereotypical girl so a diary and journaling was something I hated. But I've learned as a dancer that a journal and writing down your thoughts can be a very useful tool. For me, I use it to get all of the worry and overwhelming thoughts out of my body and also to remember the things that bring me joy throughout the week. I am currently on only my second journal but considering that I hated it until last year I would say I'm doing pretty good.      

Now this is not me saying that just because I like journaling you should go and try journaling, it doesn’t work like that. Journaling is so personal so it has to come from you. You can’t start it or journal for someone else or the aesthetic, that would be closer to scrapbooking. So if this speaks to you and you feel like you should journal for yourself, I would recommend but if not then I wouldn’t.      

My favorite coping mechanism though is talking. Let me tell you, I love to talk. So talking about what I'm going through and being slightly dramatic about it is something that I do to make me feel a bit more in control about whatever is happening. This goes both ways though because I really like listening to other people talk. When other people talk about their passions, thoughts, and feelings it makes me feel more inspired. So to reiterate, this is what works for me this is not going to work for everyone, unfortunately, but if something stuck, then yay!