A Splintered Mind

*Feeling like the daily grind is getting you down? I felt that way lately, and here’s how I turned things around. * One sign of depression is that you lose interest in things that you used to find engaging. This is different than an ADHD whiplash pivot into a new pursuit . It’s more like your love for a favorite pastime dies with a weary sigh. I’ve been through that type of phase many times in my life. I gave up reading Science Fiction & Fantasy once. Stopped enjoying anime for many years. Stopped watching favorite TV programs here and there. I even stopped playing the tinwhistle, something I have enjoyed since Sailor Moon and Lisa Frank rocked my daughters’ world. These were all activities I did daily, then suddenly didn’t. Usually, these changes happen slowly. I can’t pinpoint, for example, what day I stopped playing the tinwhistle for a few years. It might have been the month of my divorce when I moved into my own place. I do remember the...

Too tight; too long. With added arch supports, they fit even worse. I bought these Rowley Slims Vans in the 00s because they looked cool, and I thought I’d get back into skateboarding, but I never bought a skateboard. I couldn’t even wear the shoes more than every once in a while. They hurt my arches because they are a size 11, and I wear a 9½–10. I was too impatient to special order ones that fit me. I was going to start skateboarding with clown shoes on a skateboard I hadn’t purchased yet. What was I thinking? My life has been filled with false starts like this. Intentions the size of mountains, but follow through measured in millimeters.