From Your Room

I wrote this song before my life was impacted by the pandemic, but it’s essentially about the effects of isolation on mental health. It’s being added to some quarantine-themed playlists, and I think more and more people are going to be able to find meaning in these lyrics. Personally I’m really feeling the bridge these days: “If you never leave it could stop feeling like home / If you never leave, you might forget how to roam.” Regarding my mental health, I have two goals for this strange and scary period of time, which I’ll share because I’m sure others are feeling the same way (already stir-crazy, and worried your mental health is going to plummet). Goal number one is mindfulness. I’m gonna try to meditate every day, to center myself and be present in my surroundings. Something I‘ve learned about myself is that my depression gets worse if I go too long without feeling like anything “new” is happening, if I feel like the days are blurring together and nothing will ever change. When your routine is the same every day and you can’t really get a change of scenery, it’s easy to feel stuck. So mix things up. Lie on the floor and look at your chair from a different angle. Seek out sights, sounds, and sensations you’ve never quite experienced before. Look for the things that are different about every day, because even if it doesn’t feel like it, they are there. My second goal is to try to reach out to people. I already tend to avoid interactions and isolate myself, and it just got a whole lot easier. Obviously I’ll be interacting with my family a lot more, and that’s one of the silver linings about having to move home, but I’m also going to try to maintain some level of connection with my peers - even if it’s just watching your Instagram stories and sending an occasional “how are you?” While for now I can no longer recommend hopping on a train for no reason, I still encourage taking your demons on walks, even if it’s just around your house or backyard. “From Your Room” is out on all steaming platforms. Produced by rowan, cover artwork by Evan Bode.