Joy as an act of Resistance is a punk rock album with a strange title. I use it as a reminder to never surrender to the pressures of life. Idles screams into the microphone to fight back, don't let them whip you into submission. However, before this album I never really thought of happiness like that, I more attributed it to kids who didn't know what life is about. Who haven't lived through the death of someone close, or people who were blissfully ignorant about the problems around them. But Idles talk about hard things too, about losing a child, and the pressures society puts on being beautiful, as well as, the pressures it puts on being a man. But despite that they also insist that there is joy, and you must fight for it. A tree that bends but does not break. We are surrounded by deadlines, caffeine, long hours, and societal expectations. How could you be calm, how could you be happy? Recently though in an attempt to right whats been wronged, I have been fighting back in small ways. With vitamin D. A vitamin where most of us in the northern hemisphere are deficient, especially in the winter. An almost guaranteed way to improve your mood. I think of it as an act of resistance, and self reliance. Even if it is mundane and tastes of chalk. Because I can choose to fend off my environment.
There is a lot of debate about calling Vit D a hormone as opposed to a vitamin because we are now understanding how useful it is. Especially for black/brown people in the northern hemisphere, melanin makes is harder to keep Vit D levels at optimal levels. There is also a lot of articles that talk about why COVID seems to attach the black/brown people more in the northern hemisphere than in Africa itself.
I had a Vit D level of 4 (practically zero) so I take it religiously. I haven't noticed a change in my mood but definitely in other health markers.