Monday, September 30, 2013
Simple mood structure
When I was younger I had a wide range of complex emotions. Delighted to desperate, turbulent to tranquil, affectionate to aversive.
After age 50, I've become simple and binary. Two moods. Constipated, Not Constipated.
A bad dump makes a bad day. A good dump makes a good day. That's all.
Fortunately, my signal to noise ratio has vastly improved. Before 50, when I was working in offices, I was more or less constipated all the time. Since then, dumping has improved year by year. In the last three years, an inadequate dump is a rarity, which means a bad day is a rarity. (Yay!)
What made the difference? First, staying home and having an uninterruptible bathroom available when the urge strikes. Second, changing to Old People's Time. It's clear that my ideal dumping time was always around 6 AM regardless of sleep, but when I was working 8-5 and waking up just in time to scramble into work, I rarely saw 6 AM. Now I'm awake for 3 hours before that ideal point, which is enough time to drink coffee, relax, get a little exercise, recognize the urge, and catch it.
Today was one of those rare bad days, probably because terrible windy weather made me tighten up during the hours when I normally loosen. Since I wasn't going to get anything constructive done, figured I might as well discuss the problem and solution. Who knows, maybe someone with a similar temperament will try out the idea of changing sleep schedule, and gain an improved life earlier than I did. 
A bad dump makes a bad day. A good dump makes a good day. That's all.
Fortunately, my signal to noise ratio has vastly improved. Before 50, when I was working in offices, I was more or less constipated all the time. Since then, dumping has improved year by year. In the last three years, an inadequate dump is a rarity, which means a bad day is a rarity. (Yay!)
What made the difference? First, staying home and having an uninterruptible bathroom available when the urge strikes. Second, changing to Old People's Time. It's clear that my ideal dumping time was always around 6 AM regardless of sleep, but when I was working 8-5 and waking up just in time to scramble into work, I rarely saw 6 AM. Now I'm awake for 3 hours before that ideal point, which is enough time to drink coffee, relax, get a little exercise, recognize the urge, and catch it.
Today was one of those rare bad days, probably because terrible windy weather made me tighten up during the hours when I normally loosen. Since I wasn't going to get anything constructive done, figured I might as well discuss the problem and solution. Who knows, maybe someone with a similar temperament will try out the idea of changing sleep schedule, and gain an improved life earlier than I did. Labels: TMI
¶ 5:23 PM
