Keeping Sane in an Insane World

Full disclosure: I’m on the left side of the political spectrum. I believe that the government’s job is to care for its citizenry, not just the upper crust of same. This line of reasoning comes from growing up in a church where I was consistently told to ask “what would Jesus do” before acting - while the elders of the church didn’t realize that such questions would lead me to think more about overall ethics rather than the morality of whatever action they were having me question.

The last couple of weeks have been tough on my mental health. Every single day seems to bring some new outrage that is going in on Washington, DC - or the world in general. I don’t dare try to make an enumerated list of items that have affected my mental health, because frankly, the list would take the majority of this post.

I find myself staring at the high quality doom that social media presents currently. Because I know my favorite negative emotion is anger, I must take care of myself in these situations. Anger feels awesome because it’s a dopamine burst, which as a long time depression patient feels GREAT! But it is short lived. Thus I must try to remember the words of the Buddha, anger has a “honeyed crest & poison root.”

So, how to deal with this issue on my own in rural Kentucky, and yet still be able to have contact with the outside world via my social media. It’s difficult. The majority of my friends live far enough away from me to where social media is how I get 90% of my social interaction these days.

So, first and foremost, I decided to take the Apple News aggregator widget off my phone. Opening my phone and being hit with the headlines multiple times a day doesn’t help. I also took the local news app off my phone so that only the local weather alerts ding now. I will have to intentionally search out news apps at this point.

The bigger issue is my social media feed - whereas six months ago, every other post was some form of a personal victory or sharing pet and kid photos - every other post is concerning the rage-inducing news coming from DC and beyond. If I were to mute every single person who posts political speech right now, my feed would be little more than adverts.

This has been a more difficult transition in trying to not spend as much time scrolling down my feed. This leads to a bit of FOMO, because I love seeing my friends’ successes in garment making, pottery and other such wonderful crafts. The problem is that there is so much negativity being posted - often in the form of reposted memes and the like- that it’s bad for my mental health.

I feel the need to point out that it’s not that the fuckery in DC doesn’t bother me. It’s that it bothers me to the point of impotent rage. But there’s nothing I can do regarding any of it. Calling McConnell’s, Paul’s, or Gutherie’s offices will do no good if I can even get thru. All three men sold their soul to the far right for a couple extra bucks of tax breaks for their donors. Attempting to contact them does nothing but add more anger to feed my addiction.

So, I’m trying, in my way, to keep myself from going crazy. That’s why I try my best to stay toward positive things in my posting. Showing off the art and collections that I am attempting to grow and learn. Celebrating my friends’ victories. Talking about the sports I referee. The point for me is to offer small sparks of joys to help keep waypoints lit for my friends. The abyss can be a very dark place, and I want to be able to ensure they can see their way out.

I’m trying, Ringo. I’m trying real hard to be the shepherd.

Love all y’all.