Many years ago, my husband and I traveled through Europe for six months. After a while the experiences became a blur, we could no longer remember what we did three and four weeks ago because it became too much to take in. It was time to return home to integrate and process the travel impressions.

During very busy times it seems similarly that I become fragmented, losing bits of myself here and there along the way. When the busyness subsides, I need to collect and ground myself to bring all those scattered fragments back under one roof.

The English meaning of collecting oneself has to do more with composure, while the German expression sich sammeln, which translates identically, has more to do with reintegration after this kind of fragmentation. Reintegration for me consists of quiet time by myself, puttering around without agenda or an appointment looming, reading a book, cooking something, or drinking tea and reading the newspaper. A good night’s sleep can do wonders but may not be enough. Regular meditation is a good way to ground yourself but is not for everyone. Walking in nature, going on a vacation, coloring or working on a crafts project, taking a bath, making music, are all ways to bring yourself back home because these activities inactivate the rational-analytical left side of the brain and make room for the subconscious to do its work. The effect can be compared to tidying up a messy closet so you see again what you actually have and can find everything easily.

You can’t go a mile a minute all the time without disintegrating, starting to coast and going on auto-pilot. Depression is actually an advanced form of loss of connection to self. Being aware of this need to push the stop button periodically and reintegrating is helpful and you can do it any which way that fits your personality and lifestyle.