Mental Limbo: Languishing

Real Simple has an interesting piece on what is called languishing. A place where one isn’t very sad, but also not really experiencing joy. It is probably possible to exist in this state reasonably functioning for a long time. I’m sure a lot of people are experiencing this state during this pandemic especially.

It takes effort, but finding joy in anything (not sinful, ha!) generally grows into finding joy in other areas. Read the article here.

I have recently found that audio books bring me joy. I just listened to an abridged version of Out of Africa by Isak Dinesin. I used to read quite a lot, but I now find audio books gentler on my mind. The book has beautiful imagery and was mentally restful. We got audible temporarily, to be honest. I’m not sure if we’ll keep it, but librivox.org has some good audio books for free.

I think it is important to be open-minded about discovering joy. I used to find harp music dull and bird songs annoying. They have since brought me comfort during difficult times. Some things that you previously scorned when well might make you happy when troubled.

Another thing I’ve done when feeling traumatised is watching videos of ocean life on YouTube. The kids like to watch it too, so it is a good way to bring calm into your life while keeping the children entertained.

Please comment with the things that bring you joy while you are well or “languishing.”