The sun has come out again

Not literally.  It's cloudy and gray here again.  I'm ready for sunshine and warm breezes. 

But figuratively?  Yes!  The sun has come out again for me.  It's no secret that I've dealt with depression for the last couple of years.  Or really, the last decade if I want to be honest with myself.  But in the last two years, it has been bad.  Seeing-a-psychiatrist-and-taking-medication bad.  I had no energy and no motivation.  Waking up and getting out of bed every day was a huge ordeal.  Just making it to work every day was a chore.  I didn't want to be social.  I didn't want to go anywhere or do anything.  It was a dark period in my life.

But in the last two months, I've felt a change occurring.  I have more energy and motivation than I can remember having in a long time.  I smile and laugh more.  I spend more time with friends.  And most importantly, this change has occurred without the medication.  I took myself off of them a little over a month ago.  I felt the same off of them that I did on them.  So what was the point? 

I really feel like going off of the gluten is one of the reasons I'm feeling so much better.  It's hard to be happy-go-lucky and feel good mentally when you feel so poor physically.  Food allergies also cause a lot of inflammation, including in the brain. 

So, now that I'm feeling better, I'm making a list of all the things I want to do that I have not been doing in recent times.  My list of hobbies I want to try for the first time or take up anew are:

• Learning Spanish. N. is currently downloading Rosetta Stone for me.
• Drawing classes. I've never been particularly artistic, but I want to learn how to draw the human body more than anything. Maybe one of those classes with a nude model?  Who knows.
• Photography classes. Also want to invest in a good camera when my finances allow for it.
• Volunteering.  Joining Austin Junior Forum this month and looking into working at Town Lake Animal Center on some weekends.
• Cooking classes. Whole Foods offers a few gluten-free classes I want to try.
• Boxing lessons.  I found a boxing gym in North Austin that has received good reviews and promises to get me in awesome shape.
• Dance classes.  Ballroom and/or ballet. No dance skills at all.  This one should be fun.
• Hiking in various areas around Austin.
• Joining a co-ed softball team.  It's been almost six years since I stopped playing and I miss it.
• Joining a running group, like USA Fit. I ideally want to train for a half marathon.
• A book club. I need to read more, and I would love to discuss literature with other people.

 This is just the beginning of my list of things I want to do.  I plan to continually add to it.  I'm so excited to have things to look forward to again!