Blog Vulnerability: I scream into my pillow.

I'm a mature 28 year-old heterosexual man, in touch with my emotions, trained and somewhat skillful in non-violent communication.  I'm not very aggressive.  I don't scream at people.  I like to communicate and express myself.  Nevertheless, sometimes a man has to scream into his pillow.  (Not cry into his pillow, mind you.) I have three pillows upon my bed.  Two king-size down pillows, and one regular-size foam pillow. 

Somewhere along the way, perhaps in middle school, I was told that screaming into one's pillow can be helpful when frustrated, as a last resort, for a few reasons.  1. Because its quieter.  2. Because it is a good release as a last resort.  3. Because it will make you feel really stupid afterwords, and just put everything into perspective.  I only pull out the pillow scream once or twice a year.

Now, before performing the scream, I made some other healthy decisions: I talked with some friends, prayed, tried to figure out a solution to the problem, even journaled about the situation.  Those were all helpful, but indeed, as a last resort, I needed the scream. 

How to properly scream into one's pillow: 1. Find something to vent about.  2. Throw yourself across your bed (or if you are like me and have a taller bed, throw your upper body upon your bed, feet firmly planted on the ground).  3. Find an appropriate pillow.  4. Apply pillow to face, preferably with arms beneath the pillow to provide a good foundation for a scream.  5.  Scream your little lungs out.  6. Laugh at yourself, gain perspective.  7. Repeat as necessary.

You're probably asking why I needed the scream...

Well, I like to keep traditions.  Last year at this time (finals), my computer stopped working on me.  This year, guess whose computer stopped working again...without any warning?  Two years in a row!

After a crazy week of studying so far, apparently sometimes we need some reminders to slow down.  Still..not fun.

(FYI: the foam pillow seems to work the best for these screaming purposes...and yes, it made me laugh at myself and gave me some perspective.)

*** UPDATE 11:59am: Crisis averted for now.  By some mysterious grace, my computer started working again.  I quickly bought a jump drive and threw a bunch of stuff onto it.  Praise Adonai.  I am grateful.  Don't think I won't pull out the pillow scream again if I need to, though, folks. ***

Comments

[Adam]

Bro - I am SO sorry. I can't even imagine how pissed you must be. Crap dude.

Yuck.

I'm sorry - if there's anything a friend from Georgia can do, please let me know. However, I do know this: after finals are done - looks like someone is going to get a new MacBook - there's no way the Apple store would be able to deny you that...

[Mom]

Do you think it might work for a married,50-something mother of 3, grandmother of 2 in response to more snow and a phone not working (which, as you see, it is now)?