Yes, You Do Have to Clean the Cat Box
Depression and the never-ending stream of work to do.
I’ve been dealing with some depression for the past few days. Between losing my hearing for a bit and having a busy work schedule, my headspace hasn’t been the best. And, when that happens, some things fall by the wayside.
The most recent one is the cat boxes. We have four cats, all of whom I love very much, even when they’re jerks. Unfortunately, we need to feed the little buggers, and they eat expensive prescription food. Even more unfortunately, when they’re done with the food, they also have to poop somewhere.
Right now, I’ve put off cleaning the cat boxes for longer than I should. My mood hasn’t been great and my energy levels are low lately, so doing that simple chore seems like a heavy lift. It’s a dirty job that requires me to be on the ground to do it, and even though it takes me maybe ten minutes of my life, I still hate it.
That doesn’t mean it can be skipped much longer. The boxes are getting quite full, and the cats will start to protest if I don’t clean them soon. Unfortunately, when the cats protest, that means they pee on the carpet, so it is in my best interest to do it sooner than later.
There are quite a few things that have fallen by the wayside recently. I have a pile of documents that I need to go through and organize, but I haven’t had the energy for the ten-ish months that they’ve been in a pile. I need to clean out my dresser and closet and make a pile of “to be donated” clothes, but I simply haven’t gotten around to it.
These are things that need to be done. The documents can technically wait, but they’re disorganized and I might need some of them soon. The cat boxes cannot wait any longer. Other things need to be addressed too — the house needs some repairs, I need to switch banks, and there are about a million other little things that need to be done in the next few months.
Depression is kind of a bitch like that. I need to do these things, but I don’t have the energy to do them even though they need doing. Work is getting busy again this month, so I know my mood won’t be improving anytime soon, but these things need to be done and I cannot let my depression stop me from doing at least some of my basic chores.
Right now, I’m writing this before work since I don’t have something finished for today. Writing every day often feels great, but right now it feels like a weight on me, and I don’t care for that feeling. I am going to do my best to keep up with my daily writing — I’ve made it this far, I’d like to get to the one-year marker.
And regardless of what else gets accomplished today, I need to clean the cat boxes. That’s all there is to it. I don’t want to, but I can’t put it off anymore.
If you’re depressed right now and struggling to do something, I hope you are able to do the thing. I believe that you can do it, just as I believe that I’ll get the cat boxes cleaned today. To borrow a line from a popular anime from 15 years ago, don’t believe in yourself, believe in me who believes in you!
I’ll just have to believe in someone else who believes in me for today.