Daily Cascade

Shirley McLane and Bad Moods

Prompt:
"I am not crazy. I have just been in a bad mood for 40 years. "
Shirley McClaine
Write about this in your Blog entry today.

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She, in a bad mood? After all that success and men and everything else? Well, it might have been the too many men that caused the bad mood. I vaguely remember her saying on a talk show that she bought a mountain, which really was some estate on a mountainous region in New Mexico, which was sold in June 2024. So much for the gossip.

Truth is, I think Shirley McLane is a great actress, nevertheless what she said in the quote. Among the many of her movies that I watched, I remember her in downtown Abbey juxtaposing Maggie Smith. I think Shirley McLane was miscast as a vulgar American with new money. That was the one role that didn't work well, through no fault of hers, though. She is 90 now and still working. Yay!

As to the bad mood, in general, many things can cause a bad mood, starting with sleep deprivation. Did Shirley McLane not sleep well for 40 years? That had to be awful.

Another reason may be the substance use and/or drinking a lot of highly caffeinated drinks. Stress and negative life events will do it, too. Then, maybe, some people can suffer from hormonal changes or something like borderline personality disorder.

Still other things can cause a bad mood, also. Such as people. That is, the lack of interactions with them. Or the too much of such interactions especially if those people are always around you and you can't escape them.

I guess, for some, the news can be the culprit, as it sometimes is in my case. Not to mention the bad weather or the lack of exercise. Once in a while, another person's bad mood can bring down the moods of others, as well.

My personal remedy for bad mood is keeping busy, physically of course, but especially I keep my mind busy. That is why I still keep physical books and reading material around, supposing something happened to my Kindle readers, cellphone, or the computer went kaput.

Come to think of it, if I see someone in a bad mood, I don't try to get them out of it because this is their own job, which no one else can do. Listening to their woes, however, might help, without any judgment or even advice. In fact, downplaying their negative feelings, rushing them to feel better by giving advice and attempting to solve their problems, however meaning well, may not work at all. Aside from giving them a good ear, I might even be overstepping their space and who they are.

I truly wish I had a magic wand to transform someone’s negative mood into a positive one. Sadly, no such tool exists.