I’m a big metal fan.

Wait, not that kind of fan. 😛 The other kind.

The kind that loves spending a Saturday night in a small venue with the drums and guitar so loud I can feel it in my soul. (Yes, I wear earplugs). Recently I got to see Rivers of Nihil– and WOW. They are amazing live. The openers were a lot of fun too.

There’s actually some evidence that has shown some positive benefits to heavy metal music. These include a better mood and feeling empowered, and I think it’s fair to say the world in general could use some of both right now! It’s also been shown to help people process emotions like anger. That has been my experience in life. It helps process emotions. In the past, when I was a teenager, it helped me put a name to what I was feeling, and helped me feel less alone in the world.

To be fair, I was raised on bands like Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, and a dash of Black Sabbath. My dad would listen to Rush or put Floyd’s Wish You Were Here on, and I just found it to be a whole experience for me. It wasn’t just listening to music. It made me think. Or soothed me. He’d put an album on and I could sit there and not do anything else besides listen and think. Or not! Just be.

My mom loved music too (still does) and exposed us to lots of classical music, some pop music, and other genres. As little kids, we would get pretty crazy listening to Beethoven’s Ninth. I can remember whole vacation car trips listening to Robert Plant and Sade, with my mom’s little brown case of cassettes on the floor. She would get us kids’ albums when we were little like Sesame Street’s In Harmony which has some of my favorite songs ever. We had Dr. Seuss’s Sleep Book on vinyl too. The other side had If I Ran the Zoo. But the Sleep Book is where it’s at. If you ever need some help falling asleep, take a listen to the Sleep Book.

Fast forward to my first experience listening to Metallica in a friend’s car. It will probably sound like I’m exaggerating when I say that I was speechless, sitting there listening to Master of Puppets. Have you ever heard music for the first time and thought, my life will never be the same again? That was my experience listening to Master of Puppets. I knew I was into metal at that moment, I mean into it, and that hasn’t changed in the last 35 years. It just stuck. As did classical music, and other music as well. I’m just a music lover. But metal is my go-to. So one way I process emotions is to listen to some metal music.

I am also on a baking kick. Sundays are a good time for me to do this, because I don’t know about you, but there’s this thing called the Sunday Scaries where people start getting anxious about going back to work and dealing with the week ahead. It’s anticipatory anxiety, and sorry to say, most of us have it according to the linked article by the Cleveland Clinic. They have some tips for dealing with it because ultimately, that’s what we need to do as adults- deal with our feelings. (I know, shocker.) We have to feel them and deal with them. If not, they come out sideways, in not so good ways. So the article recommends doing something fun, getting some exercise, and staying busy among other things. I got a fast walk in, relaxed today, read, and baked. Baking has been something that I’m really enjoying on Sundays, because I’ll bake something that takes focus and effort. Like today for instance, I made homemade vanilla custard filled doughnuts called Berlinarbollur from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book by Beatrice Ojakangas.

I am not lying to you friends when I say that these are a game changer. A warm fluffy doughnut full of vanilla cream and dusted with sugar is heaven. I’m not even a doughnut person! I honestly don’t know what really made me pick this recipe out of the baking book I’m working my way through. I just wish I could share these with anyone and everyone who wanted one:

The ingredients were simple and straightforward- Flour. Sugar. Yeast. Eggs. Whipping cream. Vanilla. Butter. Not much else.

Anyway, making something like a filled doughnut took some time. There were steps. There was a yeasted dough and working with that sticky dough, and making filling and then frying the things. Surprisingly, these doughnuts were a very forgiving recipe. I thought I had royally screwed them up but amazingly, the filling didn’t all leak out. I’ve eaten two of them so far, and am really exercising some restraint at the moment because they are sitting on my counter, all lined up just waiting for someone. I have to chuckle at myself because I don’t know that this is anything close to a “healthy hack.” But in a way, it is- for mental health! It’s just something I’ve found that works for me.

Writing helps me too. Writing and journaling are wonderful ways to process negative emotions. I try to journal at least a little bit every day. Getting it all out on paper helps to get it out of my head where things can get blown out of proportion. Praying and meditating are helpful too. And first thing in the morning, that’s where I’m at.

Thanks for letting me share some thoughts with you on this Sunday Eve. I hope everyone has a great week. If you ever feel like those Sunday Scaries are getting too big, talk to a friend and share your thoughts. Maybe they feel the same way too, and you can benefit from each other by learning some new stress-busting tips. What are some ways that you deal with negative emotions? Do you ever get the Sunday Scaries? I’d love to hear from you!

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