How I Fight the Low-Down Blues!

Hi Babe!

I'll be working on the set with Bridget or Robert or David and after the shooting is over and we've headed to our cars, I feel like a big blue wave has swept over me. I'll climb into the driver's seat and feel like I can't even pull my keys from my pocket to stick them in the ignition.

Usually I get sad like this when something bad has happened to myself or to the world. Like I felt that way when Kennedy was shot and when Martin Luther King was killed.

Or maybe I'll get those really low-down blues over some simple thing like if I asked a girl for a date and she refused, or if a studio person snapped at me and I hadn't done anything to warrant it.

But I know how to pick myself out of these depressions now. In the last couple of years, I've found 10 things that can make me change my mouth (and my head) from a frown to a smile. I'd like to share them with you, 'cause I know from your letters, Babe, that you sometimes get down, too.

1. I see a movie. Even if it's the middle of the afternoon, I go to a movie and try to pick one that's happy and light (at least the ending). A real tear-jerker or a fearsome drama is okay, but I want the ending to be a nice, happy end that will help me see that my problems aren't so bad either.

2. I take a walk. I like Sunset Strip at night for walking. I look carefully into the faces of people I pass and I can sort of see their problems, too. I realize that no matter how bothered I am, someone else is worse.

3. I buy a wild shirt. Generally, if I've got enough money in my pockets, I go into a crazy store and pick out the nuttiest shirt around. I may never wear it again, but it seems good sometimes to see myself in red instead of blue or pink instead of brown. Gives me a whole different view of the world, too.

4. I read Kahlil Gibran or maybe another author who gives me something to hold onto. I don't want to read a book that just tears down everything. I want to read an author who offers a solution, too.

5. I read my fan mail and answer what I can. I dig hearing from everyone and many of you write me about your problems. It makes me realize two things. First, I know that I have thousands of friends in the world who I might not ever meet, but like me anyway, and secondly, that other people have problems, too. Some of them, like troubles with a boyfriend or girlfriend, are similar to mine.

6. I play with my dog, Dopey. Dopey is always bouncing around happily. Dogs are so unbothered with the world around them. And I love to watch their subtle little moves. They cheer me up right away.

7. I write a song. I pour out my problems in my music and I work for hours on getting every note just right and every word, too. By the time I've finished writing some mournful tune, my blues are gone.

8. I visit my parents. Going home to my mother and father is always a pleasure for me because they're people who understand me and can either sympathize with my problems or set me straight. Sometimes, I think I'm facing the end of the world and then I find out that 20 years ago they had the same sort of troubles!

9. I write down what's making me sad and then I reread the problem about six times. Each time I pretend I'm someone else, not me. Like one time I might pretend I'm a president of a corporation. Another time I'm a minister. My problems don't seem so terrible in another person's eyes.

10. I visit or telephone an old friend that I haven't seen in a while. That really cheers me up...especially if maybe it's someone I went to high school with and I discover they're married and have had a child or two. I'm so excited about catching up on lost time that I forget my sadness.

Hope some of my blues fighters work for you...I don't like to see you unhappy. Babe, so remember that if you're ever down, chances are you put yourself there. And that's a bum trip! So cheer up and write me a bright, happy, groovy letter!

Until we're together,
Love, Bobby