By Megan Cohen
Not going to lie, I have some trouble managing my…emotions. Rest assured, you won’t find me in a TLC documentary, but sometimes school work and dealing with your peers just gets to be a little too much, and I’m left feeling just as stressed out, if not more (and I may or may not be eating my feelings in saltines). These past experiences have led me to believe that there are two types of people in the world: People that don’t stress out, and people that don’t exist. And quite frankly, those foam “stress balls” do nothing but distract you from the fact that you’re stressed. Once you stop entertaining yourself with its squishiness, you’re back at square one. However, the one thing I have found that does help is The Thoughts Room.
There are times when you feel like you just need to tell someone about why you’re stressed, or what’s been keeping you down. But what I learned after using The Thoughts Room is that it’s just good to release your stress, regardless of who hears it. Because that’s what The Thoughts Room is: A place for you to talk to, well, you.
Wearing headphones is the best thing you can do while using the Room, because as the page loads, you are treated to a peace-inducing melody that could put a caffeinated gorilla to sleep. After reading a few slides of text, a small, Facebook status-esque box appears, ready to be filled with your endless rants. But the real magic happens when you begin to type, and each word suddenly breaks in half and falls off your screen, a la shooting stars.
I know that a common worry when telling someone what you’re going through is what they’ll think. But with the Room, have no fear, because no one is ever going to see what you type. It’s basically a conversation between you and yourself, never to be seen by anyone. And that’s not even what is so relieving about the Room; it’s watching those words disappear. Out of sight, out of mind, right? While it may seem rather violent to pound on your keyboard as you get out your raging frustration, it may be just what you need to get rid of all negative emotion.
Testimonials of The Thoughts Room do nothing but advocate for it, even claiming that it has helped some people through their cases of depression and anxiety. Don’t get the wrong idea; the Room is far from a cure for a clinical diagnosis, but it can be a useful tool when it comes to getting through your tough time. Maybe you’re doubtful of whether or not it could truly help you. Surely you’ve had the occasional run-in with a rage-fueled blog, not to mention the forums where people will have the guts to say anything when behind an anonymous username.
Let’s face it. It’s difficult to find emotional support on the web. But you see, that’s why The Thoughts Room works: It’s just you. No cyberbullies, no administrators watching your every word. It’s just you being honest with yourself about how you really feel and watching those words that you could finally get out disappear from the screen and, hopefully, from your life.
Just give it a try. It may seem like a strange idea at first, just typing to no one. But as soon as you finish your first sentence and watch as the words fall away, you’ll find yourself sitting there, an hour later, having written thousands of words that describe what’s been going on in your life, and you’ll feel free of all your burdens.
They all say, “You don’t have to go through this alone.” Quite honestly, you don’t. But sometimes you need to get away from your family, friends, and advisors, because no one knows you better than you know yourself (despite what all those online quizzes claim). So do me a solid. Just check out thequietplaceproject.com/thethoughtsroom/ and see what happens.
