The anxiety I’ve been struggling with since this past July is finally starting to take a back seat to life, which is an absolutely welcome occurrence. I attribute this partially to what I call wilderness therapy, which basically involves taking walks in the sunshine on a daily basis whenever possible. Lots of times, Sage and I will simply go to the soccer park and lie down on the big hill and watch the dogs cavorting and getting all wet in the stream. Other times, we’ll use any excuse–like needing a loaf of bread–as an excuse to walk around town.

Something about feeling the wind in your hair, seeing the bright blue of the sky…For me, those things dramatically reduce anxiety. I’m a homebody, but I hate being cooped up in the house, if that makes any sense. I’d like to take my outside therapy a little further and buy decent warm raincoats for Sage and me, since it has been raining way too much lately. I’ve been doing an exercise CD in the house, and while that helps burn off the adrenaline, it does nothing for the part of me that needs the sunshine. Perhaps a vitamin D supplement would help. Who knows? I’d still rather be outside, though.