I'm trying to pull myself out of the hole I've been festering in since the start of COVID lock-down in early 2020, and as my brain has been careening toward one of the most terrifying elections in my lifetime. I have barely felt human; just a meat machine, going through the motions, fighting through executive dysfunction so I don't get fired, and getting my food pellet every other Friday.
I used to not be like this. I used to be a vibrant person who laughed a lot and had an improvisational left-field sense of humor that was edgy without being cruel. I was raised from a young age with the “Great American Myth” – be kind, don't break the law, work eight hours five days a week, don't be economically foolish, be a good person, etc., and I would be successful. I never really cared about the success part; it all just seemed to make sense to me. If we didn't work together and care about each other as fellow human beings, it didn't seem we would have much of a future. Now that seems to be writ large, as fascism has made a comeback, the Lock-down made a lot of people lose their social skills, we're still doing nothing about the climate, and the concept of planning for the future just seems absurd at this point.
At the same time, it's important to seize this time that we have right now, because every day as good as it's going to get from here on. We need to find joy, in defiance of the world, if for no other reason. We need to remember our humanity, we need to be certain not to lose our empathy. We need to remember to attend to our own needs. We need to take care of ourselves. Dance, sing, write, draw, paint, enjoy nature, enjoy music, love others, and most of all, remember to love yourself.