*Do Something About It*

Today children, we are going to study how does the Mariannaus Upsetus work.

It is a quite common species that can be found on cold and dull days, mainly concentrated around Dublin area, Ireland. Formerly present all over Brittany, France, it immigrated to Ireland along with the Mariannaus Normalus, and usually one doesn't go without another. They are in fact closely related and share memories and conscience.

The Mariannaus Upsetus is only temporary out of her lair, for a few hours or a few days, completly taking over the Mariannaus Normalus' territory for that period.

The Mariannaus Upsetus is quite shy and doesn't show up to everyone. Only some "priviliedged" people get to see her, or hear from her.

The Mariannaus Upsetus doesn't like solitude at all and seek for people attention in one way or another, but not any randomer's attention, rather the people that are very close to the Mariannaus Normalus. These people are usually qutie unequiped to help the Mariannaus Upsetus, which is a pity because by helping her you'd just gently push he back into her lair, allowing the Mariannaus Normalus to come out again.

The Mariannaus Upsetus listens to sad songs, thinks of sad things, ramble and sees everything on the dark side. Bright doesn't reach her. All creative skills the Mariannaus Normalus has are destroyed. The Mariannaus Upsetus only draws sad faces and write sad prose. The Mariannaus Upsetus is a sad creature, and frankly, a quite boring one also. All she wants really is to go back and hide in her lair.

A few tips to help the Mariannaus Upsetus:

- First of all, learn to recognize the Mariannaus Upsetus from the Mariannaus Normalus. Although they are very alike, there are some essential differences. If you can see the creature in person, note that the Mariannaus Upsetus will make no effort to dress up or wear make-up. The Mariannaus Upsetus speaks less, and not as loud. She doesn't laugh as much. She usually cares less about everything as well, apart from herself. The Mariannaus Upsetus, unlike the Mariannaus Normalus, is selfish and self-centered, only focusing on her self misery, and does not care about the others.

- Don't tell her she's irrationally sad, that she upset for no reason, that she shouldn't be upset, or anything of a kind. As her names shows, the Mariannaus Upsetus is NATURALLY upset and cannot do anything about it. Saying such things only upsets her even more.

- Don't leave the Mariannaus Upsetus alone. If you're not around, text, e-mail or call to show you care. Post a song on her Facebook wall (yes, the Mariannaus Upsetus, although she lives in a lair, is very high-tech and haunts Facebook for distraction to her misery), or draw her a flower in the snow.

- Remember that the Mariannaus Upsetus is ashamed of being out there and usually feels guilty of taking place of the Mariannaus Normalus. Therefore telling her it's ok to be upset or sad will calm her down and help her find her way back to the lair where she'll disappear for a while.

- Also remember that the Mariannaus Upsetus and the Mariannaus Normalus share their conscience. All you do (or don't do) to help the Marianna Upsetus will be remembered and rewarded (or ressented) by the Mariannaus Normalus when she's back. The opposite is also true. If you're good to the Mariannaus Normalus, the Mariannaus Upsetus will know and thinking about that will help her get over herself and go back to hide.

- Beleive what the Marianna Upsetus says. Even if it seems over-reacted to you, what she expresses is genuinely what she feels. Sounding like you don't beleive it or do despise it will only make things worse and logically, annoy you even more. So a little effort -even a little lie- can make things lots better.

- Love the Mariannaus Upsetus the same way you'd love the Mariannaus Normalus. They are like one creature, not two. They're not so different and turning away from the Mariannaus Upsetus will affect both and make the Mariannaus Upsetus feel particularly unloved and neglected. Which as you'd have understood by now, doesn't help to make her go away.

- Sometimes the best way to get the Mariannaus Upsetus back in her lair is a good, strong kick in the arse. However, the kick has to happen at the right time (exactly like in Inception), or it won't work but only make things worse. The right time is: when the Mariannaus Upsetus is not crying anymore, when the Mariannaus Upsetus admits she needs to move on (and back to hide), or when the Mariannaus Upsetus is acutally with you in person (in such case a hug should be prefered to the kick).

- You are allowed laugh about the Mariannaus Upsetus with the Mariannaus Normalus, but only if you make it obvious that you are not being serious (remember, shared memories!).

- To sum up: show her love.

...

I can't think of anything else to say, children. Or maybe just a quote that suits PERFECTLY this post.

Writing is [the only] socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.
E. L. Doctorow.

Not that it concerns me at all.

Comments

[lyn]

thanks, glad you enjoyed it! it really helped writing it actually, went from a shit mood to a good mood :)
to be honest now, I could live without the Upsetus side... but it's part of the package I suppose!

[Briwie]

This is great ! self-mockery is the key.
Really nice to read too.
Come on, you know we love both sides of the Mariannus ^^