Minor Inconvenience Note

I once said that "I would never want to find, much less use, an actual Death Note. I would, however, more than welcome a Minor Inconvenience Note."

In case you're not familiar, Death Note is a manga/anime about a teenage genius who discovers a supernatural notebook that, in a nutshell, causes the death of whoever's name is written in it. It was one of the first shows I watched when I first really started getting into anime back in 2018. I became such a fan that not only did I issue the above quote (as an attempt at a joke at a music industry gathering) but I also drew one page of a parody comic based on the manga:

Anyway, the reason I bring this up* is that I've recently come across the term "micro-stressors," which are the minor inconveniences, problems, annoyances, etc. that occur in everyday life. Alone, they seem harmless and trivial, but they can add up over time and, if not properly dealt with, cause serious mental health issues (I don't know, I'm an author/musician, not a mental health professional, but that sounds about right).

There are different ways to deal with micro-stressors, but my personal favorite technique is to use the "identify-and-transform" method. This is where I identify exactly what the stressor is ("that person cut me off in traffic") and then think about why the stressor provides an opportunity for gratitude, thus transforming it from a negative into a positive ("I'm thankful that I have a car that helps me get around," "I'm glad we didn't get into an accident," etc.). You may have or require a different method (again, I'm not a mental health professional), but this is what works for me. And that's your unsolicited advice for the week.

* Actually, the reason I bring this up is that I just wanted an excuse to publish this cartoon in my blog