What to Do When You’re in a Really Bad Mood

This isn't groundbreaking stuff, but it's good stuff.

This kind of letter reminds me of my Thought Catalog days when I was getting paid barely 30k a year to come up with 10-15 mindless listicles a week that served mostly as clickbait to draw in audiences. A large part of that role was phoning it in and yet everyone took it so seriously. Personally, I loved the writing I did back then — it was fun, easy, creative, and exciting. Is it my best work? Not at all. But it was a moment in time and every little listicle has its purpose on the World Wide Web.

Anyway, springtime is here, which means weather and moods are changing. Depending on the day, you may feel the hopeful lightness that Spring tends to bring OR you may feel rainy and humid much like the weather. While I like to think that my general mood is playfully dramatic and mostly enthusiastic, I have bad days. Like, really bad days. They used to be a lot worse when I was younger, before I got my mental health medicines in order and before I met Zac. But every now and again, it’s just a bad day. No matter how you look at it, no matter if you try desperately to incite the whole “don’t turn a bad moment into a bad day” mantra — some days are just downright ugly, and I want to help you through those.

It goes without saying but I’ll say it anyway that this cute short list of ideas on what to do when you’re in a bad mood is offered with an air of light-heartedness. If you’re dealing with actual depression, grief, trauma, etc., I don’t think getting your nails done is going to do much to improve your mental state. But maybe? Take this list for what it is and employ it when necessary.

Me, eating a Strawberry cupcake from Susie’s Cakes on a rainy Spring day (they are the most incredible cupcakes)