Regression.

The irony of this phrase (given the number of ordinary least squares regression models I've run in the past few days) is palpable.

There was an era of my life when, when my life felt like too much for me to handle, I would retreat into a small dark space--under the bed, in the closet, in the bathtub with the lights off, etc.--and curl up, hidden away from all the bad things in as little space as possible, where I felt like I could control things. It was an illogical and often impractical coping mechanism, but it worked for me. I regained control of my life in lots of small dark spaces.

I'm contemplating sinking underneath this cluster desk right now and seeing if it still works.