"Happy little trees" in Life as I know it...

With all the stress and difficulty that my social and general anxiety brings me, I have always found comfort and relief from the crippling anxiety in the strangest of ways...

One of the first ways I used to calm myself and manage to get my mind blank was sitting next to the tumble-dryer while eating my porridge in the morning before school, as school was quite a terrifying experience for me. I would sit down on the kitchen floor and feel the warm air, the vibrations and the soothing sound it made. One of my previous psychologists actually came up with a pretty good explanation for it. The sound, feelings of warmth and being calm are all representative of being a child in the womb. There is the same kind of gushing noise, the warmth, the feeling of safety. I'm not sure if I believe that, but it damn sure sounds accurate.

Another one was just lying on my bed and listening to the sound of the vacuum cleaner whenever it was in use. The next one I sort of came up with was lying in bed and using my hairdryer to blow the warm air on me while I would close my eyes and listen to the soothing noise. This is still one of my favourites, but I do feel a bit guilty because it wastes power.

At my previous home I had a wonderful shower/bath. It was a bathtub with a separate shower head on the wall. I would lie down in the bath, put the plug in the drain and turn the shower on and just lie there and let the warm water fall on my face and my body while the tub fills up. I did that quite a lot during my high school days and it really helped.

The other way was through hearing certain people tell stories of their lives or just by speaking to you. I refer to these kind of people as "goosebump people". I can't really describe them, but it is usually somebody who is either in their 50's or upwards and has a very soothing voice or an aura of wisdom surrounding them. Since I cannot create these moments at will, they are incredibly cherished and appreciated when they do happen. My latest method that I stumbled upon is a variation on this method... "The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross". Some of you might know about this series from the 70's as it has quite a cult following, I'm sure there are some episodes up on youtube. Each episode features Bob Ross, a middle aged artist with an amazing perm, who paints a picture, usually a landscape picture, using his "speed-painting" technique, with the idea that the watcher would be painting along at home. His voice is just so soothing, he is the epitome of a "goosebump person" to me. So, whenever I start to feel anxious, which is usually all the time, I just watch an episode, listen to his voice and watch him paint.

I read an article where somebody described his voice as having the same effect as demerol. It is very calming and relaxing and some of his catchphrases like "happy little trees" or "almighty brush" just make me smile. I recommend it to anyone who suffers from general and social anxiety disorders. Actually, I'd also recommend it for it's intended use as this guy's speed painting technique is amazing and is suitable for everyone. I've never seen anything like it. He paints beautiful, intricate landscapes with a few techniques in 20 minutes, go take a look.

I'm actually going to go watch an episode now, because I am so angry and upset at what happened at WWE Royal Rumble last night and how the company just wont listen to their audience who have been screaming at the top of their lungs what they want for the past 7 months. It seems like, with no competition around, they can do pretty much what they want and all us fans just have to make do. I hope Ring of Honor somehow becomes an enormous company and takes them over. The stuff they're doing over there is absolutely amazing.

Thank you for reading

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