Sadness changes the lighting of a room without changing every object inside it.

Sadness works on tone rather than fact. It makes the same apartment feel emptier, the same job feel more pointless, the same friendships feel thinner, without altering a single detail of any of them. The interpretations it offers arrive with real force and often with the flavor of clarity, as though grief had finally shown you the truth. It has shown you the lighting.

When you are low, try not to make permanent decisions about relationships, work, or your own worth. Note what you are seeing, put a date on it, and revisit when the weather changes. If something still looks wrong in a brighter month, then it is worth acting on.