twovests wrote
Reply to comment by flabberghaster in i think i genuinely have one of the world's worst brains by flabberghaster
Frankly I've been feeling a lot of the same thing. I had to scrap my post twice because I got really longwinded in my reply.
I think it's bad form not to ask first to someone venting-- but, would you appreciate an optimistic advice-y reply? Because I feel and have felt the same way. It occupies my thoughts because the horrors are all around us. But I've also found bits of hope that our world is not doomed.
If it means anything, I know how this feels. At least we're not lonely in feeling this way. :( 🫂
flabberghaster OP wrote
would you appreciate an optimistic advice-y reply
yes!
twovests wrote
The suffering is all engulfing and we individually are powerless to change the tide. We're small in the face of suffering. I won't try to deny that this is true!
But something (I think I heard from Ian Coldwater) that really resonated with me is something like this:
"You can't fight in every fight, but you have to be in a fight.
This is an optimistic statement, but it's also correct!
It gives me permission to focus on one thing, to catch myself before a rabbithole. It makes it pragmatic to have the "serenity to accept the things I cannot totally fix in the next 10 minutes".
Frankly, it helps me actually do things, which is good. Even if that's a $5 donation to UNRWA or whatever. You can do small things, and you can quantify them not against the goal of "Fix Every Problem", but against the goal of "Fix One Person's Problem". Thinking at the scale of person rather than humanity really helps.
And, if we're going to live in the timeline that ends up OK, we need to be optimistic, even if the pessimistic outcome is more likely.
If we end up in the "humanity turns rancid (fascist) and kills the globe" timeline... Well, at least you can make the death a bit more painless. That is good too.
That said, this is a lot of rationalizing and untangling a feeling.
The other half is exercise. I hate that the "eat healthy, exercise, and buy my nutritional supplement" people are mostly right, but exercise (specifically cardio) is really really important too. It's a direct lever on your brain. By exercising, you divert excess energy from the Anxiety Nodule and to all your other organs instead. I spent years going around therapists and it's criminal that not a single one of them told me to start jogging.
Sorry this is all over the place, but I feel so much about this.
tldr: You can't be in every fight, but you have to be in a fight. And you have to take care of yourself.
twovests wrote
P.S.: Posting, too. Posting is very good. I mean this very much.
It is magical and lucky that human beings have the ability to transmit thought through sigils. Ink or light, I think it's good that you can transmit this idea to people who are thousands of miles away.
Being able to express ideas of a global-scale on a global-scale is relatively new.
Posting is a big part of the most optimistic future. Even pessimistic, sad, angry, "How Did We Fuck This Up SO BAD" posts are important. You gotta post.
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