Ever notice how susceptible you are to exhaustion and illness, when exposed to something dark or depressing in culture or via some form of media.  Lately, I have entered a fairly dark period in my reading and movie watching choices.  As a direct result, I have been slightly depressed, and been sleeping a lot more.  Also I have been feeling the effects physically.

I have never really been one to jump on the whole chick lit bandwagon.  Yes, I have read some.  But overall, my library is somewhat lacking in this genre (unless you include Jane Austen books – and I suppose she can qualify).

In the last month, I have read books about:

• the Holocaust (via graphic novel and from the voice of the survivor/descendant)
•  World War II (from the soldier’s perspective)
•  stealing orchids
• fighting in the civil war/falling in love with slaves/effects of the family waiting for the father to return
• participating in a book club (token chicklit)
• death
•  supporting artists and the drama that goes along with it
•  and weird sci-fi ish kind of stuff that I am not able to describe.

My movie choices have been even darker.

Am I choosing these kinds of things to read and watch, because my mood is dark.  Or is my mood (and health) in a dark place because I am choosing to bring this stuff into my life.

When I am aware of the darkness of my mood, I try to do things to make me feel better.  Really, who wants to feel bad all the time?  I didn’t even realize I had entered such a dark period, until a friend commented on what I had been reading.

Well no wonder I feel so tired.

I am not really too interested in reading about clothes shopping, and being a nanny, or whatever is super popular these days.  But what I have been absorbing has definitely had an impact on what has been going on with me.  So perhaps its time to put the books down for awhile (just a temporary solution until my balance returns).

As for the movie watching.  I am never going to curb that habit… I just love them too much. But it wouldn’t kill me, to watch something a bit lighter.  Something that doesn’t involve suicide, mental illness, dysfunctional families, mass murder rampages, drug abuse,  or any other equally depressing subject.  Maybe I will reintroduce some Samurai flicks into my evenings.  There is nothing depressing about those!

So how about you?  Are you aware of what you are absorbing?  Can you connect your intake of culture and media to how you are feeling?

Share your stories….

**Picture Source - flickr 

Post from: Blisstree

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