Woosah

People deal with stress in different ways. My method of choice may not be seen as “healthy,” exactly, but it works for me.

I have to vent.

Writing is fine, listening to music is great, but nothing quite hits the spot like running down my list of gripes out loud, regardless of whether I’m telling my husband, a friend, or the empty space around me.

Something about flinging my words about – hearing the frustration instead of seeing it – really helps me blow off steam. It’s way more satisfying than writing stuff down in my journal, or typing it up in a blog post.

For instance, let’s say I get an e-mail from someone that is condescending in tone and petty in nature. Depending on who it’s from, and the amount of history behind the subject matter, I might just have the urge to hurl a few angry epithets through the air instead of responding with the same level of petty in e-mail form.  Now that I work from home (as many of us do) I can scream at the computer from the comfort of my dining room table without fear of reproach. No “I’m gonna need you to log off” HR situations lurk in the realm of possibility when no one is around to hear you tell your coworker to shut up from your couch.

As much as I’d like to have my anger subside after a few deep breaths, that is not quite my style, at this current stage in my life. Who knows, maybe I’ll change. Maybe I’ll become more wise and more zen as I age. But for now, this process is the go-to. My mouth hasn’t gotten me kicked out of any establishments, nor has it landed me in any wild brawls. So as the adage goes: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.