I’m not dead. I’m still here. I’m not “away” in a mental hospital. I’m not manic and flying.

You may have thought that and I wouldn’t blame you.

Quite the contrary – I’m thriving on work…

Work is the greatest therapy of all. Here’s why:

1. Work gives you a sense of purpose and we all need to feel purposeful and useful.
2. It gives you a reason to get up in the morning, get dressed and get going. (I work at home, but I still get dressed every morning, no matter what. Otherwise I don’t feel professional, and I’m a professional.)
3. When you work you have to reach out and engage with other people. Connect with the world. That’s exciting and exhilarating.
4. The more you have to do, the more you get done. (That sounds like it should be an axiom with a name like Murphy’s Law, which it is not. I cannot find it right now. When I do, I’ll get back to you.)
5. You feel a great sense of accomplishment, confidence, self-esteem, a wondrous natural “high” when you do a good job. You can’t buy that feeling. It’s truly priceless. I love it.
6. You learn so much from the mistakes you make or the first drafts you have to rewrite. It’s tough work. Writing really makes you bleed sometimes, it’s so hard, but when you get it right, it’s bliss.
7. There’s nothing better than falling into bed at night utterly exhausted after a hard day or night of work.

For the last two months I’ve been working. Really hard. On a variety of different projects. Writing.

You know what? I love to work. I haven’t worked this hard in a while and I forgot how much I love my chosen profession. Journalism. Researching. Interviewing. Deadlines. Pitching story ideas. Learning.

I bet you love working, too.

Most people love to work and accomplish things and feel useful and be paid for their efforts and expertise. It’s positively therapeutic.

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve worked in my chosen profession. Journalism.

For the last two months, I’ve worked so hard I haven’t had a real day off. The odd afternoon, perhaps. But now I’m working nights and days. It’s great.

So posting today and letting you know I’m still here is a bit of a holiday for me…

The truth of it is, I’ve been feeling guilty about abandoning you. Yes, that’s how I’ve felt. You’ve been there for me and all of a sudden, one day, I was gone. You’ve been on my mind, but I couldn’t come up with something I wanted to share with you.

I didn’t know this was going to happen, nor could I plan for it. I just needed a holiday and that holiday was work.

Work was given to me. Suddenly. It was a gift and I’m so grateful for it and to the person who gave me these opportunities.

So, unfortuntely, you were pushed to the side for a while. I didn’t forget you. I just couldn’t summon the energy to share all this with you, until today for some reason.

So, that’s the story…

Now, I have writing assignments about subjects utterly foreign to me. I have to research and reach out and interview people and get way, way out of my comfort zone.

It’s like the olden days (oh, dear, did I just say that?) when I was a daily newspaper feature writer and every day meant a new assignment and a new learning curve. That’s what I did for years. Some of the best years of my life. But you have to keep on moving. Nothing stays the same.

I’m on a new learning curve ~ and I love learning…

So now I’m back, but in the 21st Century, journalism, especially when you’re writing online, is all about keywords and giving people “practical tips” and all the things that I don’t do very well here on this rather personal blog.

Mental health and mental illnesses are the name of the game here at Coming Out Crazy, but to be honest, all this work has rejuvenated me and given me a sense of purpose and well-being. I’m as crazy as anyone else. Normally crazy, I guess. And that’s okay.

It’s the wonder of work.

Take care and be well. Consider working, volunteering, anything. If you can. You might be surprised at how good you feel.

See you next time I have a bit of a break.

And in the meantime, I bet you can add lots of your own reasons for why “working is healing.” I’d love to hear them. We all would. They’re inspiring.

Why not pop them into a comment?

Cheers!

Photo Credit: Uphill Writing, Resources for Computers

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From Psych Central's World of Psychology:
Best of Our Blogs: September 21, 2012 | World of Psychology (September 21, 2012)

    Last reviewed: 20 Sep 2012