Depression – Page 2 – Melissa Schlies

What if the Change That Feels Like Loss, is Actually Good?

Hello friends, last year, Tony and I went to California for vacation (remember traveling?), and I learned something about change in the Redwood forest of all places. Then, of course I wrote about it. It felt like such an important lesson for me that I thought I'd re-share with you for a part of this month's series on Change. Enjoy! Other than the sound of gravel crunching beneath our hiking shoes, it was quiet. The kind of quiet that makes you hesitant to speak. And when you do, it makes you whisper. All around us giant redwood trees towered above [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-07-13T15:07:53+00:00July 13th, 2020|Categories: Acceptance, Change, Courage, Depression, Failure, Faith, Hope, Preparation|Comments Off

Change Isn’t Pretty: Why We Don’t (Always) Have to Despair When We Watch The News

More times than I can count, someone close to me has said the following: “Melissa, you hate change.” In some situations, it’s been said like an accusation that stung. In others, there was a tone of compassion. And always, it was in response to me lamenting about a situation in my life I had no control over. A situation in my life that meant: Change was happening whether I liked it or not. Over the past month or so, there have been anti-racism marches in countless cities and towns across the US. And though they mostly consisted of peaceful protesters, [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-06-28T11:43:02+00:00June 29th, 2020|Categories: Change, Conflict, Courage, Depression, Fear, Hope, Racism|Comments Off

What To Do When Being At Home Is Hard

A friend of mine once told me that she hates spending too much time at home. When she was growing up, things were bad living with her parents. Home was not a good place to be. So now, as an adult, she’d rather spend her downtime outside of her own home—doing errands or being involved in activities. For her, being home means being still enough for all the hard things of her past to surface. Home is not always our place of comfort. Only now, that is where many of us are. We’re working from home or our jobs have [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-04-06T12:33:07+00:00April 6th, 2020|Categories: Anxiety, Conflict, Depression, Health, Hope, Mental Health, Self Care, Social Distancing|2 Comments

Five Ways to Approach Your Pandemic Grief

In the corner of our living room right now, there is a big stack of boxes. It had begun to form over a month ago, when our plans looked very different. Now, they’re a daily reminder that our lives have been put on hold. Tony and I were supposed to move this season. No, we haven’t found a house (though we came very close to putting an offer on one). But before Covid-19, we’d been actively looking. And as the boxes in our living room can attest, we were already packing. We were READY to move. Only now, everything is [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-04-01T23:16:50+00:00April 2nd, 2020|Categories: Acceptance, Change, comparison, Conflict, Depression, grief, Health, Hope, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Mental Health|Comments Off

A Social Distancing Survival Guide for Everyday (Free Download)

They say, you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. Right now, we’re all feeling the truth of this statement in a way we’ve never experienced before. It's amazing how much of our lives have changed in such a short period of time. Not only has the pandemic caused us to give up the majority of our social interaction for the foreseeable future, but it has also cost us many of the crucial components of our everyday lives. We’ve had to say a lot of goodbyes. Some forever, and some for an unknown amount of time. Some as [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-04-06T16:03:08+00:00March 30th, 2020|Categories: Acceptance, Anxiety, Change, Courage, Depression, Fear, grief, Habit Making, perseverance, Routines, Social Distancing Survival Guide, Uncategorized|Comments Off

This One Lie is Holding Us Back More Than We Think

It was progress report day, my senior year of high school. After Art, I made my way to my last class, Spanish IV. There, I sat in my usual seat, and laid my books out on my desk. But when our teacher stood up to begin his lecture, a student appeared at the door. “Mr. M, Mr. C wants to see Melissa, if it’s ok.” At this Mr. M nodded. Then looking at me, he leaned his head towards the door as if to say, ‘you may go.’ I got up from my desk. Then the student added, “He wants [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-03-01T12:26:59+00:00March 2nd, 2020|Categories: Anxiety, Courage, Creativity, Depression, Identity, Purpose|Comments Off

What if the Change That Feels Like Loss, is Actually Good?

Change Isn’t Pretty: Why We Don’t (Always) Have to Despair When We Watch The News

Five Ways to Approach Your Pandemic Grief

This One Lie is Holding Us Back More Than We Think

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