Depression is...

Depression

Depression makes me feel alive.. without life. Depression is the hibernation of logic, the result of being strong for too long.

Depression reminds me that I still have a "self" to cling to when times get rough.

Depression is like a thundercloud. It is the darkness that blocks the light from the life down below. The rain comes in many forms, but isa cleansing, growing experience in it's own way.

Even though it looks dark, and gets cold and muddy, it's healthy in the end. It's part of the circle of life. "Lilypads grow from the muck of life." -Confucious

After all, anyone only ever goes through depression when something is wanted, but apparently unattainable. Whether it's finances, the loss of a loved one, or maybe you just feel lonely.

Depression has given me one of the greatest gifts I have ever received- self-indulgement. More specifically, meditation. It has taught me to become "myself,"liberatedfrom the world around me.

I believe everyone has inner strength. I didn't know I did, until I truly had nowhere else to turn. I got tired of hearing over and over that it would simply be okay.

The fact of the matter is, until we are trulyeagerforchange, until we trulyseein ourselves that we can be and want to and arereadyto become anything or anyone regardless, andindependent of those around us, we will suffer in stagnance. The way I see it, we can either prepare for change or succumb to self-pity. There is no fooling anyone.

Part of gaining the ability to reign in your emotions is properly re-introducing yourself to logic and reality.

Realizethat you're only human. We all make mistakes! Suffering is universal. They had depression during the World Wars, during the Renaissance, throughout Ancient Egypt and the Mongolian Empire. The world goes 'round. The world has been goin' round since before Jesus or Buddha stepped foot on it. Whenever I'm sad, I think about what it would be like to be born into Egyptian slavery, just hauling blocks of concrete senselessly.

Humans are just like animals, we are animals, scientifically. But what separates us is our consciousness. Only the human has the ability to act and manipulate. We can shape the earth, we can manipulate eachother, and yet we can barely control ourselves. Why is that? We can't remember who we were before we were taught the ability to manipulate. Why manipulate? To fit in. We need to learn to once again be honest with ourselves without judgement, and those around us.

Life comes with obstacles. Life comes with rain. It's not supposed to be fair, it never has been. Everyone is dealt a different set of cards, everyone plays their hand differently.

This is it. This is life. I don't know you, or your religion, or anything about your past but what I DO know is that I wouldn't hold you to any of those things.

Who you are, hasnoooothingto do with any of that stuff.That said, there isno gauranteethat there is an afterlife. There's not. I don't care how many words you say, how many dusty books you read or science experiments you've done or even ghosts you've seen. I can't know for sure because I haven't died yet. That's logic. It's a miracle we weren't born 4,000 years ago, our beliefs might be quite different in a world like that! Basically what I am saying is, none of it matters. We are all human. What even is a human? A crazy tiny miraculous combination of elements that breathes life within the infinite timeline of recycvled energy. The entire universe is one giant pile of energy, recycling itself. Here we are, living on this planet, for no reason, looking for things to do that "make us happy?" until we die. That's the mission that was written on our foreheads.

The cure for depressionis right under your nose. We live in a society that expects so much from itself, and yet is unwilling to give to itself. For example: We need jobs, and we need smartphones, and yet we have terrible customer service. This is a pattern, you can look anywhere and see corruption in the workplace. No one is passionate about work because they are underpaid, undervalued, undernourished. What evenis a job? Why do we have to work our entire lives away just to acquire some stuff? Does this stuff make us truly happy? Or just satisfied for a little while? There is a muchbigger picturehere than the tedious functions of society. Humans are animals. We shouldn't have to work for a living to survive. The land is(was) fruitful. We should be able to just walk outside and be able to scavenge food, we are animals and that's our natural habitat. America for example,200 years ago natives inhabited the land peacefully in such a way. They went through genocide, were forgotten, and now we only know Thanksgiving.. It's a circle. Humans literally go in circles competing against eachotherfor power for no reason. What is power? Manipulation, to gain something. No man should ever have power over another man. This circle we all go in, this is what causes our depression. It's not natural. When we buy stuff to make us happy, it's like decorating our prison cell. Even compliments can be just as bad as insults, they portray an image of approval, acceptance.This is the dream of the world. We are born into modern expectation, whatever happens to be modern. And if we can't keep up, we are rejected, and more importantly we self-reject. Happiness= power+materialism.

The antidote ofdepression for me, would be to just go outside and look at the stars. Go for a walk. Breathe. Relax. Take time for you, without distractions. Think about yourself, your past, your future, your present, who you are, the things you've done, the things you've loved, the people you've hated,and make amends. Forgive yourself, forgive others, forgive the future. Look at yourself with love, patience, and understanding. Just observe who you are completely indifferently.We have a very short time to be alive. We have an even shorter time to be young. The time will pass anyway...Isn't it worth it to be happy? Don't you deserve to be happy? You owe it to yourself, because you are a beautiful, unique embodiment of light. Envision what you desire, instead of what you fear. Our greatest weakness is fear, and our greatest allyis Love. We grow like flowers. Innocent closed buds open up to bloom and expose their true inner beauty. Depression is your subconscious letting you know that you are still in there somewhere, and it's going to be okay, as long as you learn from your lessons (by observing your mistakes and forgiving) and keep love in our hearts.