Beam Brighter in 2 minutes or less.

I am not certain if it is the short days, or the drag of January, but all around me people are tense. I thought I would attempt to shine a little white beam out at the general group of readers, critics, and curious transient mistake hits.

Let me validate you first. Yes it is the season of loneliness and low neuro-peptide releases. Lack of sunshine means lack of vitamin D which helps release more serotonin, but enough about that. Simply put. We are in perpetual lulls of grey. We are trying to look to the future, make plans, see the bright side. That's exhausting sometimes, and you have every right to be a crab. Just know, everything is temporary.

Only you can make the conscious choice to say: "Hm. This whole self-pity, wallow pool of bad-mood stink isn't quite working out for me lately." If your psyche isn't down for the uphill battle of summoning all good thoughts and creating a pillowy-love fest for yourself...try these quick little tid-bits that work for me:

1. Primal scream. Really. Clench your fists and scream as loud as you can (into a cushion, or tuperware) or if you have real balls in the middle of the city. Ha. If nothing else its amusing. I usually do it with my 2 year old, who gladly sees it as a game, we then end up competing to see who has the more glass-breaking pitch. ( she wins)

2. Shove a shopping cart. This is a great one. It works best when there are tons of them stacked behind each other. Take both hands and shove it as hard as you can into the carrel. It has a great domino-metal-crash-bang effect, and no one gets hurt. You could even throw the primal scream in for good measure. 2-in-1.

3. Sing a song. Make this a little more formal by adding a brush or straitening iron for a microphone. Sing the song with everything you have. It is important that the song is cheesy and up beat, and has no major emotional tie to anything.

4. PRT- Personal reflection time. This is my acronym for masturbate. Do it. Trust me. It releases more calming agents into your bloodstream than an entire bottle of wine. Hell, do it twice. Pick an old flame or new random lover for inspiration and roll with it. Park the shame at the bedside. No room for it. You deserve pleasure, and god knows you do it best.

5. Say something nice - It is true that hearing positive words evokes positive feelings. Say something nice to a friend, a loved one, or write a random kindness email or text. The feeling of making someone else feel a little better has a direct effect of making you feel helpful and kind. You might even find it gets reciprocated.

Laugh, heavy pet a friend/or lover, and scream. It works. Go out there and beam bright!