Friends, while I face big, deep issues, sometimes it is the daily and transitory and ephemeral that is the most real.
I appreciate my old vacuum cleaner.
It was the cheapest one Walmart sold in 2018, when I moved into my apartment. It was loud, and it worked well. It had a long cord.
I didn't vacuum as often as I should. My intense grief often manifests like, or is identical to, depression. So maybe that's why I didn't vacuum as much as I should in the four years I've lived here.
When I did vacuum, I made my space better. My mental space translated to my physical space. And I used a specialized tool to do so.
"I need to vacuum" I told myself every day through much of this troubled 2022. Sad to say, I'd often go weeks without vacuuming.
Earlier this summer I eventually cleaned. During its last running, it began smelling very strongly of smoke. I threw it away and used a newer vacuum I got during the pandemic.
It is not so much that I had any attachment to the vacuum: it is that it gave me the ability to help myself.
I could say the same thing about my air fryer (obesity) or Buspar (GAD). It is the small moments and forgotten things, what we leave behind without a second thought, that make up our lives.
Requiem for a vacuum cleaner.
Requiem for a vacuum cleaner.
Work is love made visible. -Kahlil Gibran
A person with a "why" can endure any "how". -Viktor Frankl
Which is better: to be born good or to overcome your evil nature through great effort? -Skyrim
A person with a "why" can endure any "how". -Viktor Frankl
Which is better: to be born good or to overcome your evil nature through great effort? -Skyrim
- Mental Fairy
- Posts: 1715
- Joined: March 24th, 2022, 11:53 am
- Gender: Female
- Issues: Recently sleep walking increased. History of anxiety depression
- preferred pronoun: She
- Location: New Zealand
Re: Requiem for a vacuum cleaner.
This very topic came up in therapy for me! When i was in my last clinic and working more hours than the days could give me i used to go home and immediately pull out my vacuum! I kid you not! I would go home and plug it in and vacuum. I was doing with in an OCD kind of way. Even if someone else had done it that day i still did it! It was a control thing.
I still do it from time to time twice a day if i'm stressed!!!!
I still do it from time to time twice a day if i'm stressed!!!!
- snoringdog
- Posts: 1517
- Joined: April 23rd, 2019, 5:49 pm
- Gender: male
- Issues: anxiety, depression, automatic negative thoughts, intrusive thoughts, SAD.
- preferred pronoun: "Good Boy!"
- Location: USA
Re: Requiem for a vacuum cleaner.
Hmm...Sorry for your loss Oak
I like to vacuum because I'm allergic to dust, and rooms smell better after it's done.
(Picking up beforehand is sometimes a drag though )
I do hate the motor noise and usually use earplugs. Also listen to music or podcasts during, like MIHH....
I like to vacuum because I'm allergic to dust, and rooms smell better after it's done.
(Picking up beforehand is sometimes a drag though )
I do hate the motor noise and usually use earplugs. Also listen to music or podcasts during, like MIHH....
Re: Requiem for a vacuum cleaner.
Bump!
While searching for "smoke", comment on our good friend Snoring Dog's environmental smoke (which is back and worse than ever for me), I found this year-old thread.
That vacuum cleaner did a lot for me. Vacuum cleaners, disposable razors, ice water: these prosaic things make up so much of my mental health.
While searching for "smoke", comment on our good friend Snoring Dog's environmental smoke (which is back and worse than ever for me), I found this year-old thread.
That vacuum cleaner did a lot for me. Vacuum cleaners, disposable razors, ice water: these prosaic things make up so much of my mental health.
Work is love made visible. -Kahlil Gibran
A person with a "why" can endure any "how". -Viktor Frankl
Which is better: to be born good or to overcome your evil nature through great effort? -Skyrim
A person with a "why" can endure any "how". -Viktor Frankl
Which is better: to be born good or to overcome your evil nature through great effort? -Skyrim