Thank you!

I always love your posts, Tiffany. <3 <3 <3

What a FANTASTIC couple of comments, Jenny. Sometimes just stating a hard thing helps--sharing it with others and knowing you aren't alone in feeling these things. I've never seen malaise like this, on a sustained global level. It's really, really hard, and pretending it isn't only makes it worse. Like you, I look for coping devices--and like you, I get ZERO current events on television. It's too much and I can't take it. I read instead, sources I trust that are solid journalistic outlets. Even that is hard. (There's a reason I was googling "existential depression"!) But channeling that into creativity is all I know how to do (that and working to make my immediate community as good as I can, and making my voice heard for the things I believe are important to stand up for). I keep thinking how art drives change--over and over we see that it's usually the first thing to raise social consciousness on a mass level. And the escapist kind of art matters too--it's how we soothe our troubled souls. The artists have never been more important. So save your sanity, creatives, and take care of yourselves, but know how important it is that you keep putting your work into the world! Thanks for the great comments, Jenny. <3

Love you, Fae Rowen.

I'm sorry the family stuff is getting you down, Denise. That's so hard. It's wonderful that you have supportive friends who can boost your spirits. Do more of that!!

The best thing my husband ever did for me was get rid of cable. He did it a few months before the last election and it made such a difference in my outlook and my stamina for bad news. Prior to that, he'd watched all the channels, tuning into each side, trying to sift the truth out from both of them. When people are yelling at you from your television, night after night, it is very easy to feel battered and fearful. Now I get my news in very small as-nonpartisan-as-possible doses. It is SUCH a relief.

I think you said it beautifully here. Using the angst and fear is important and therapeutic. Even harder, I think, is to dig deep in our everyday lives to find the positive and happy things. Sometimes those things are very small, but small positives can add up after awhile and siphon away some of the corrosive anger. It's hard. The bad stuff is easier to believe.

I've had to re-start my gratitude journal to remind myself that that world doesn't completely suck, but it has helped.

Thanks for your comment, James! I'm currently on mental-health hiatus from the installments of horror. That helps too... 🙂