Investing Therapy for a Writer

Feeling out of control? Emotions and stress starting to get you down?
Try investing.
Well, at least start reading about investing. Learning about investing has given me a constructive outlet for my anxiety and depression, and it has helped me pass the hours of sleepless nights. It may not be better then counseling to get to the root of my problems, but it's surprisingly therapeutic.

In the past, I have always turned to creative outlets to deal with my emotions. I write and I've even played guitar in a heavy metal band. I've taken art classes in figure drawing and spent many quiet hours in the park sitting on a cold bench writing even colder angst-ridden poetry.

Diving into investment books and wading through small-cap stocks, financial reports, balance sheets, dividend returns and net profit margin percentages has been a refreshing activity that seems to cool my overheated artistic side. Not only am I exercising a new part of my brain with learning new jargon and concepts, I'm also building a healthy mountain of gold at the end of this mental rainbow.

"Will I grasp that gold one day?", you might ask. Well, I know that if I write a little everyday, save it and work on it, eventually I will have a novel. Similarly, investing money a little at a time over the long-run will grow into something I'm proud of. I can't expect anyone to write the novel for me. Likewise, I can't expect a stranger to invest and take care of my money the way I would for myself. Nobody cares about my financial future more than good ol' number one: Charlotte Jolliffe.

Remember the old adage, Minions: Knowledge is power! So for the investing-inclined, go out and analyize those charts and scrutinize the finanical gurus. Read your heart out and learn, learn learn. You'll feel better when you're not so blindly ignorant. Even if you don't become the next Warren Buffet, you will reduce the anxiety and depression a little, and sometimes that's more valuable than a great portfolio.