Rudyard Kipling’s “The Camel’s Hump,” a poem aimed at “kiddies and grown-ups too,” describes that gloomy, crackers-in-the-bed irritability symptomatic of a case of the blues:
"We climb out of bed with a frouzly head,
And a snarly-yarly voice.
We shiver and scowl and we grunt and we growl
At our bath and our boots and our toys;"
This malady travels under different names – “down in the dumps,” “in the doldrums,” “the miseries” – but the results are the same. When this malaise strikes, many of us want only to sink onto a sofa, numb ourselves for hours watching television or the antics of cats on YouTube videos, and then skulk off to bed, worn out by being worn down and feeling listless as a loafer on an August afternoon. Making any effort to climb out of this pit is as appealing as a breakfast of watercress followed by a cold shower.
Get Up and Move
With a full-blown case of the blues like this we’re not talking clinical depression. We’re talking about that sadness, that melancholy which descends without warning. Like a cloudy sky, that feeling is here today and gone tomorrow, but while it’s blocking the sun, we’re gloom personified.
Kipling offers this remedy for our slump into the grump:
"The cure for this ill is not to sit still,
Or frowst with a book by the fire;
But to take a large hoe and a shovel also,
And dig till you gently perspire;"
Though “The Camel’s Hump” appeared in Kipling’s 1902 “Just So Stories,” it turns out that today’s experts consider this old bit of advice spot on as a tool for fighting melancholy. This cure, they say, is a bit counterintuitive, but if we wish to break the spell of our drab and sunless mood, we must shove ourselves upright and do something, anything, that involves physical movement.
So, if you’re feeling lower than a snake’s belly, go for a walk and get some fresh air. Throw on a pair of sweats, head for the gym, and pump some weights. Kipling’s recommendation, to dig and hoe and work a garden, also receives a thumbs up from counselors and therapists.
Indoor activities put a similar dent in that gray mood. Some experts tout cleaning as an antidote to the blues, which delivers the added satisfaction of a dust-free den or a sparkling kitchen. Cooking can also be a therapeutic game-changer. Preparing a special meal or baking a loaf of bread reduces stress, gets us thinking and moving, and can revive our better nature while delighting our family at the supper table.
Change the Scenery, Change Your Mood
Another way to fight the miseries is to hop in the car and head to a park, the library, a coffee shop, or wherever your fancy takes you. Do some people watching. Read a book. Eavesdrop on conversations at the next table.
Grocery stores can be particularly efficacious in a perverse sort of way. Today’s high food prices have many shoppers looking as miserable as you feel. Some people, including myself, find themselves buoyed by the gloom of others. “I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet,” an axiom sometimes attributed to Helen Keller, applies here.
Getting out of the house can get you out of yourself.
Pick Up the Phone
Call a friend or a relative. Call half-a-dozen friends and relatives, if that helps.
But don’t turn these calls into therapy sessions. Don’t call your sister, for example, and spend the whole time crying on her shoulder about how lousy you feel. That works once or twice, but do it all the time, and she’ll soon dread seeing your number pop up on her phone.
Instead, focus at least part of your conversation on her. Ask how work’s going, what the kids are up to, and whether they’re still planning to join you and your family for an upcoming holiday.
You’re looking for a voice to distract you from the voice in your head, not for an amateur psychologist.
This Too Shall Pass
Weave together a bad work day with fatigue, and the evening becomes a marathon. You finally drag yourself to bed, wanting nothing more than the oblivion of sleep.
But here’s a trick that works about 90% of the time for me. No matter how down in the dumps I feel, if I tell myself at bedtime that life will look brighter in the morning, it generally does.
When you rise to that new day, become your own cheerleader. Say your prayers, then tell yourself you’re going to forge something good from the next 16 hours. You’re going to make yourself worthy of living one more day on planet earth. Repeat this tactic as often as necessary.
The last line in “Gone with the Wind” is Scarlett O’Hara’s credo for life: “After all, tomorrow is another day.” That’s the idea!
Next time you’re coming down with a case of the camel hump blues, take command of yourself, say goodbye to that sofa, and kick that incoming mood to the curb.
Jeff Minick is a father of four and grandfather to many. A former history, literature, and Latin teacher, Jeff now writes prolifically for The Epoch Times, American Essence Magazine, and several other publications.
This culture article was made possible by The Fred & Rheta Skelton Center for Cultural Renewal, a project of 1819 News. To comment on this article, please email culture@1819news.com.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to Commentary@1819news.com.
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