It has been hinted that I write a blog post on light work.  Having spent so long in the darkness, struggling to find any light, it is much easier for me to write on this topic than shadow work.  Before you decide to focus on light work, please remember that we are all beings of balance.  You cannot have light without dark.  At some point, you should also spend some time doing shadow work so you can learn to be content in any state of being.

First, I should talk about the nature of the depression that I experienced for so long.  Because of it, I lived in the shadow.  I was diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).  One of the characteristics of MDD is that it continues for more than two weeks of depression at a time.  I didn’t feel particularly depressed.  I felt self-loathing at times.  I hated how I felt.  I felt lethargic and apathetic most of the time.  I hated to smile.  It hurt to laugh.  These last two statements may seem odd if you have never been so depressed that you can relate with them, but believe me, they’re true.

My first glimpse of the light was through anti-depressants.  For the first time in a long time, I started to understand what it felt like to be happy.  I had forgotten that feeling.  I liked it, so I tried to sustain it.  First, any time I felt myself slipping back into depression, I would request a higher dose of medication.  When I was on the maximum dosages for two anti-depressants, I realized I needed to try something else.  I would not recommend this method for finding the light within yourself.

After I discovered that medication alone would not help me, I realized that I needed to do some self-work.  Here are a list of strategies that I found (in no particular order) that brought out the light in me.  I wouldn’t recommend doing all of these at once.  Pick one and try it for a while.

1. Write down one positive thing about my day at the end of the day.  Once you get good at this, try two positive things, then three.
2. Write down one thing you’re grateful for each day.  Once you get good at this, try writing more than one.
3. Spend 10 minutes a day in nature.
4. Meditate.
5. Adjust your diet.  I have found that eating certain foods made my depression worse.  It took a long time to cleanse my body before I could feel the differences that different foods made in my energy levels and mood.  You really have to be very body-conscious before this one will work.
6. Move.  Go for a walk, ride a bike, dance, play tag with your kids, or anything else that you find to be fun.
7. Reach out to friends and family.  Try and spend a little time each day talking to or spending time with friends and family.  Not on the internet, but in real life or on the phone.
8. Pay attention to complaints.  If you complain a lot, try and become aware of it.  Try to lower the amount of time you complain each day.  If you hang out with people who constantly complain, try and find a way to diffuse the topic or spend less time with those people for now.
9. Stop trying to compare your life with someone else.  Remember, it’s easy to make your life look perfect on the internet! The grass is always greener…
10. Get your vitamin levels checked.  Often a lack of B-vitamins and vitamin D can produce a result that can make you feel depressed.
11. See a therapist or counselor.
12. Get your thyroid levels checked.  Sometimes hypothyroidism can be mistaken for depression (and in rarer instances other, more severe mental disorders).
13. Focus on your spirituality.
14. Take a break from things that cause you to check-out from reality like TV, movies, the internet, and fictional books.
15. Do whatever it is you’re beating yourself up for not doing — be productive.
16. Try minimalism (purging some possessions).  If you don’t want to be that extreme, at least clean your house/apartment/room.

I hope these help you find the light.  Please feel free to add more in the comments section!