I’m in a class called Chemistry of Emotion, and this question – among others – is one that we’ve been asked to contepmlate. Our teacher defined depression as not sadness or an overabundance of any one particular emotion, but instead as an absence of emotion. People who are depressed are caught up in their own minds too tightly to take stock of the outside world.
Hearing this definition struck a chord in me. I don’t consider myself depressed, but I do recognize within me, the potential for depression. I call it “thinking too much” – when I get so wrapped up in a project or idea that I start dreaming about it. I actually reinforce those neurons and concentrate so hard that I do tend to lose sight of the real world, and begin to feel anxious, lethargic, and unable to stop fixating.
And so, here is the friendly reminder to pay attention to your outside world. Even if you can’t feel the sun as warm on your face as you used to when you were carefree and happy and ‘innocent,’ the important thing is that you try.
The best thing that I’ve taken out of that class and the movie What the Bleep Do We Know (completely unrelated, just I’ve experienced both of them) is exactly that: our brains are constantly changing and rewiring. Make sure you rewire yours to a state of being that keeps you comfortable, happy, and spiritual.