In Another Land

I try to write this blog positively, trying to offer hope and encouragement, but I'm afraid some visitors might get the idea that I have it really easy... Not at all! Let me set the record straight!

I battle, every day, with the same things that make depression such a lonely hell for those suffering from it. I also get angry, in general and also towards God, when I think what life could be like without this ball and chain around my life. I also wonder if all the fighting is really worth anything...

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Allow me to tell you what got me started with this blog.

Last year a dear Christian woman suffering from severe depression committed suicide. I attended the funeral, and it was actually a beautiful funeral - people were shocked, many cried, but it was a Christ-oriented funeral: She was honoured as a Christian woman whose legacy won't be forgotten, and her husband gave a moving description of her battle with depression, ending with a call to all present not to take depression lightly, to get help, to take it seriously. And then someone else took the microphone and said: "And beware of negative thoughts. Negative thoughts cause depression..." It was like a kick in the most sensitive place, and it represented the very essence of religious misinformation/abuse about this disorder.

That was the day I decided to start a blog,

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Like John Lennon sang: "And so this is Christmas/What have you done?" Most of us suffering from depression will probably say "I survived the silly season".

Well, to be honest, some parts of it was just surviving for me, but by the grace of God this was actually a good Christmas/New Year for me. Our offices were closed, so I spent the time at home, doing some gardening, and laying a bit of paving in a corner of the backyard - only about 4m x 3m, but it kept me busy! I cleaned the ground, pushed in lots of wheelbarrows full of sand to level the surface, then laid the bricks, then did a concrete retainer around it, filled up between the bricks with more sand - and now we have a very nice place to sit & relax!

I lost some weight (sweating it out!), got a bit of a tan, and generally pushed up my levels of feel-good chemicals, but don't get me wrong: Mr Depression is still stalking me, but I feel better than I've felt in a long time. I suppose now the trick will be to continue being active...

Anyway, this is just a quick update to say I'm back. From next week I'll try to write some serious posts here, at least one a week again.

To all visitors to In Another Land: May 2009 be a good year for you. In the midst of your struggles with this dark enemy called depression, may you experience the presence and comfort of God.