With all the smart things scientists come up with these days it's easy to forget that people had smart ideas for a long time before modern medicine came along.Shakespeare'sHamlet's monologue struck a chord within me the first time I read it and every once in a while I go back and re-read it. Please note that I'm not a scholar of arts and have no idea what an acceptable interpretation of Shakespeare's writings would be, I'm just writing what I think about it and how it makes me feel. Which is how Art should be viewed in my opinion, but that's another matter.

Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1 – by Shakespeare

"To be, or not to be, — that is the question: —
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?— To die, to sleep, —
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, — 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; —
To sleep, perchance to dream: —ay, there's the rub;

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,[…]"

There's more (if you haven't read it, I strongly suggest doing so) but this illustrates my train of thought sufficiently. Are we to withstand our pain or fight against what causes it or simply to lay down and give in to our wish for peace and tranquility?

Personally I think fighting depression everyday takes too much energy. I'm quite exhausted from trying to be happy all the time, so I've adopted a form of passive resistance where I'm not raising to the heights of happiness but also don't descend to the depths of depression … much. This way I seem to have more energy to work on long-term goals like getting back on medication and fixing some relationships I broke in the recent past.

But it takes time and energy and I do in fact want to sometimes just lay down and sleep, perchance to dream…

Feel free to comment or discuss.

Best wishes,

Feday