A few years ago, I thought that I was going to become the world’s leading expert on high-functioning depression.

Or, at least one of the world’s leading experts on high-functioning depression.

Or, at the very least, a thought leader.

My motives were both pure and pragmatic. The pure part was related to the “wounded healer” archetype. I was a person who struggled deeply with high-functioning depression. And when the kind of professionals who I could afford were treating me, I reliably got worse instead of better. The “gold standard” of conventional depression treatment (aka what insurance covers; aka pills and psychotherapy) did not work for me. It made things worse.

Then the pragmatic part was that I liked the idea of being the best in the world at something. I’m ambitious. According to my Human Design chart, I always have been and I always will be (that’s true for 20% of the population). I thought I could make an abundant living helping people find a path out of an ailment that’s notoriously hard to conquer and that felt appealing to me.

But then something interesting happened. Well, 400 interesting things happened, including that I accidentally ended up spending a few years selling coffee mugs instead of sharing a hopeful and helpful message about overcoming depression. (Saturn Returns, amiright?)

The key thing, though, was this: once my high-functioning depression was healed (important word choice; intentionally saying, “healed” instead of “cured” or “conquered”), I didn’t want to keep reading textbooks and peer-reviewed studies about depression.

My interest in depression was finding a path out. And once I found a path out, wading through complex research about what actually causes depression (hint: it’s not a shortage of serotonin and never has been) wasn’t enjoyable anymore.

And you kinda sorta have to like that if you want to be the world’s leading expert on high-functioning depression. You have to keep your knowledge current.

But do you want to know the fun twist? I can still be a guide who reliably helps people heal their high-functioning depression without having to do any of the research that’s no longer interesting to me.

Do you know why?

Because what heals depression for the vast majority of people isn’t information that comes from the latest peer-reviewed journal.

It’s wisdom from traditional societies. Stuff humans have known for millennia but we sometimes forget to live by because we’re too busy working our health away to buy things we don’t need to impress people we don’t like.

And that wisdom fascinates me. It’s something that I will gladly learn for the rest of my life because it’s stuff that doesn’t just help people who want to treat high-functioning depression. It’s pure, unadulterated gold that applies to every freaking human on the planet.

And it’s wildly fun to study (plant medicine ceremonies with Andean wisdom keepers, anyone?).

That’s why the business that my cousin Therese and I are building together (thank you to everyone who chimed in on business card designs) is called “Stubborn Gladness” and doesn’t mention anything about depression.

Our current “signature” offering is a workshop that helps people with chronic high-functioning depression who aren’t getting the results they want from their current treatment protocols.

But 90+% of what we teach in that workshop is also relevant to humans with anxiety. Humans with burnout. Humans with human bodies on planet Earth.

Because the years of research I did on depression really served this point: shifting my perspective so that I understood that the “chemical imbalance” narrative of depression is an outdated theory.

Once I was free from that pervasive myth, I understood that “finding the right antidepressant to address my particular chemical imbalance” was never going to be the right solution and I could stop trying to do that.

Then all of my attention went to “how to human” stuff.

So, if you want to be notified when we offer the next round of “The Stubborn Gladness Approach to Healing High-Functioning Depression” workshop, you can do so below. We’re planning to add one-hour introductory workshops to the mix, as well as our existing 4-week offering.

Then, if you’re interested in our broader “here’s stuff that’s useful for everyone who’s a human to know” offerings, you can use the same form to let us know and we’ll keep you updated as things become available.

Here’s the form: https://forms.gle/Mp2NMseVpVRAKY6q7

With gratitude to Tad Hargrave, who stresses the importance of “are you excited to keep learning about this topic?” when choosing your work.

Keely Chief Ayahuasca Enthusiast at Stubborn Gladness (JK, but that’d be a fun title, right?)

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Morning Musings is a delight-first writing practice where I make a cup of coffee, dance around my house a little bit, then put my fingers on the keyboard and see what comes up.

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