Brood. Self-Destruct. Rebuild.

Rinse and repeat.

I have my phases; the waxing and waning of my fits. We all do. No one is immune to the blues, but we all handle them differently. Not counting legitimate chemical imbalances, the coping mechanisms we each employ, I think, determine our individual dispositions and demeanors. Or perhaps, conversely, our demeanors determine our coping mechanisms.

Either way, I don't think “Compartmentalize, Sulk, Reboot” is necessarily indicative of a healthy disposition. But that's how I cope, and it's a pretty effective mechanism for me.

My troubles are minor. MINOR. I classify them under 'disenchantment' rather than 'hardship'. My mood rises and falls on the out-of-phase sine waves of personal life, career, love life, creativity, etc. For the most part, the cumulative negatives and positives of these graphs cancel each other out and maintain my typically-even keel. Occasionally, however, the frequencies of those graphs align at one extreme or the other and throw my boat in to a tizzy.

I think it is vastly important for one to understand the storm they're in. For some, drastic, evasive measures might be required to save themselves. For me, typically, my 'problems' can be solved with a couple days of brooding plus either a bottle of Scotch or a few good movies (or both).

(EH – please accept this post as my sincerest apology)