A little self-therapy...soothing my soul in the early morning hours

By Mary Reiman

We’re moving into a year in which none of us knows just what may happen, and we’re a little tense. Seems like a good time for something to soothe our souls. Which got us to thinking ... what helps when we need a little self-therapy to ease the mayhem? Join us in these days leading up to 2025 – we’ll post daily Dec. 28-Jan. 1 – as we share some of our favorite ways to get through these troubled times. 

When I dropped my phone in the sink, it wasn’t the angst of not having the phone overnight. It was the hassle of not having my phone during the holidays. Or so I told myself.

Chances are I wouldn’t be able to get a new phone quickly. Did I have a back-up of my calendar to know where I was supposed to be tomorrow morning? Was everything really in iCloud? Did I lose those pictures I had just taken that afternoon at the family holiday gathering? Yes, those are some of the negative thoughts/concerns running through my head two days before Christmas.

What does one do after grabbing a wet phone out of the water and drying it off? In the past I would have looked for the bag of rice. Alas, luckily my computer was on the table and within seconds I learned to never use rice. (Although I do remember being told in the past that it worked.) Instead, dry it off, turn it off, and let it sit on the counter for 24 hours. Why 24 hours, I don’t know. But at that point I knew they were the experts, I was not. 

So, I followed those directions which meant I would not be able to turn on my phone until later the following afternoon. That’s when it hit me. 

That’s when I realized what my self-therapy is each morning. My morning routine/ritual.

I structure my day around my success with Wordle, Connections, and Worldle. I don’t have to solve all of them each day, especially Worldle because I quickly realized I don’t know all the countries of the world, how they are spelled, or where they are located. However, those games bring a sense of purpose to the early morning hours, setting my brain in motion for the day. If I am highly successful at any of them, it brightens my day before it's even begun. 

And then there’s the Jumble in the newspaper. I can easily get through the day without reading or listening to the news, but not without the Jumble. Others have written about their angst when the Jumble was taken out of our local newspaper. It has returned, and I am thankful.

I turned the phone on the following afternoon and held my breath until the Apple symbol came back on. It's fine and I'm fine. I survived. I was back to my routine by Christmas morning.

So, am I addicted to those games? Well maybe I am. However, I see it as centering myself at the beginning of each day. My self-therapy. 

An aside...I never get the Wordle word on the first line. I always use the same word. I always have, I always will. So imagine my surprise when I put in that word on Christmas morning and up popped 'Genius!' I'm well aware it has nothing to do with being a genius, just luck. However, what a great Christmas present!