Slump-Tunnel

I made up this term today [this isn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last] after saying to a friend that, “I am beginning to see the light at the end of the slump-tunnel.” It’s certainly not the most pleasant sounding term, but I think it conveys it’s meaning well.

The word ‘slump’ has a few meanings. One, is the physical ‘falling or leaning over’ of something or someone, and two, is a period of financial lows. Used less formally, a ‘slump’ is used to describe a time of depression (ie. “I’m in a slump,” she said, between a mouth full of Oreo cookie).

Anytime I find myself in a place as such (a ‘rut’, if you will), I always know that I will get through it. I will indeed make it to the other side. It was in the spirit of this notion that the term ‘slump-tunnel’ came to be. A tunnel is a passageway. And as we all know, there is light at the end of it to look forward to (ie. “There IS light at the end of the tunnel!” She cried, wiping the crumbs from her illuminated face).

This reminds me of an all-time favourite lyric of mine from ‘Back to Black’ written by the infamous rebel ‘Jezebele’ Amy Winehouse:

“Life is like a pipe, and I’m a tiny penny rolling up the walls inside.”

I don’t know what exactly these lyrics mean, but I like the way she sings them and the way it makes me feel. It almost makes me feel powerless to the will of life. Ok, that sounds macabre. Powerless to the will of life AND hopeful of it’s upward motion. I think if I had sat down with her while she was still here, she would have agreed that ‘slump-tunnel’ is the perfect way to describe a hopeless, yet temporary time.