Some days are good days. I leap out of bed and I do all the tasks I am supposed to do. I am excited about budgeting, space-saving storage solutions and petrol discounts. I can feel the progress I make towards my sensible, well-thought-out life goals.It’s the closest I get to being one of those go-getters who start the day by running a marathon and knocking back a disturbing green smoothie before going to work and earning a million dollars an hour by saying synergy and looking dynamic in front of graphs.

(But my graphs are better.)

The next day I wake up with the same tasks and the same goals, but it is not the same.

On this day I do not feel equal to my goals. They are too hard, too high, and I am too weak and too low. The small tasks I am supposed to get done are too much pressure. I cannot even bear the weight of basic human functions.I think most people get this sometimes. Probably even the marathon-smoothie-synergy-people get a bit down that their graphs aren’t as awesome as mine.

Over the years I have tested different methods for dealing with this situation. My methods have had varying levels of success. Sometimes I try to do the things anyway.Sometimes I give up.One time I read twelve books in a week so I wouldn’t have to think about all the things I wasn’t doing.Some of my solutions have been a bit extreme.None of these help.

But there is something that does.Building blanket forts makes me feel more in control. It reminds me things can be fun. When cuddled up in a blanket fort, I feel safe. I can even do some of the scary things without melting into a jellied heap of nerves.I wrote some of this in a blanket fort.

And yes, there’s probably a bit of latent agoraphobia at work there, but blanket forts make it work for rather than against me.

(By the way, that right there is the line between maladaptive behaviour and behaviour that’s a bit different but okay I guess. If it constricts your life, it might be a problem. If it doesn’t, boogie on.)

What a magical and wonderful solution to all problems! Rainbows and kittens etcetera.

… Did I at least have you until the etcetera?

It’s not a silver bullet. I don’t think there is one. Even actual silver bullets only work on werewolves; for vampires and zombies and regular people they’re just the same as normal bullets. Although I guess normal bullets are pretty effective against regular people, so silver bullets probably would be too. But using silver bullets on regular people seems like an unnecessarily expensive habit.

Also just generally an unnecessary habit.

Also a very, very bad thing to do.

(Please don’t shoot people.)

But blanket forts (we’re back on blanket forts) are better than the other things I’ve tried, even though sometimes I backslide to terrible coping methods anyway.

But at least I built a blanket fort first. That counts as productive.