Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl helped me in college, taught me about trying to understand your sphere of influence and focusing on things you can control.
Listen it might help you or might not but look up some videos on anarchist calisthenics.
For a lot of people we feel the terror and despair because we don’t feel like we have any power over the situation. IMO the solution is to find ways to regain control over small actions we can do every day
I’ve been writing. I’m in Canada so my perspective and fears are likely different from yours but I’m literally writing in effort to help other people who feel as helpless as I do. This is the most recent one.
Drawing attention from that which frightens you to the simplicity of the breath is often harder than it sounds. So when you realize your mind has taken off again, simply return to the breath. No judgment. No self-chastisement. No impatience. Nothing. Just move your attention back to breath.
That's okay. You don't need to know what will happen next anyway right now. Right now you need to get through the next 5 minutes by preserving yourself and granting yourself a wide open mental space for freedom.
I'm only an internet stranger, but I know how you feel right now, and the answer is yes. There is absolutely reason to hope. Things can and will get better, and a significant part of making that happen is to dare to hope and imagine the next world. Hope is mental health care, if nothing else.
Incidentally, you never know what's going to happen next anyway. We just think we do. In times like this we are much more acutely aware that we simply do not know what's going to happen. Doesn't matter. One breath at a time.
You mentioned on a previous thread that you are going to Mass again, as well as seeing a therapist—all good, keep it up. You may also want to find a spiritual director. Mine is a Jesuit; that’s sort of how I roll, intellectually, but there are plenty of options/styles of direction.
Yes. Hell yes. You're here, aren't you? Didn't millions of things have to go just so to bring you here? That is wonderful in itself.
I think the despair is in not seeing what to hope for, beyond "stop THIS". So, what (rhetorically) do you choose to hope for? Find others hoping the same. We're here.
Yes there is reason to hope. Nobody is banging on your door. Tell yourself to stop, think & repeat. In no way am I a mental health person. It was harder at first but very effective for me now. Think of Frank ready for an adventure. He's a rescue, crossed eyes & nearly blind but loves adventure.
I think so. Every single thing we can scrape and claw and tear from the bastards trying to send us all to hell is worth fighting for. It's their death cult, not mine.
Something that shifted for me recently is that hope (often) doesn't feel "hopeful." Hope isn't excitement— it's just determination.
Some days you will find Reasons to hope, and it will feel great. Other days they won't hit the same way, and you have to wait it out. But even the waiting is hope.
The antidote is action, so find something worthwhile to do, no matter how small. There will be people in your community doing things. Find them & assist in the ways you can.
When I had my daughter someone asked me if I had gotten more optimistic about where history is going and I hadn't. As the great civilizations of the Mediterranean Bronze Age went down in famine and war people still had children. The children built the kingdoms of the future
I feel you. There are great comments about what we can be hopeful for here, and so all I can add is this: there may be hope, there may not. We might be beaten and lost no matter what we do. It is not looking good. Maybe all we can do is go out fighting for the hope that some good seeds survive. ❤️
We are not alone. Trump has succeeded in alienating and unifying our ex-allies who are actively working to defeat him or at least marshall his actions They know Trump/Maga does not represent all of America We must stand with them and unite Keep resisting Its the best thing to do 💯‼️🔥👇🏽
1st thing to be aware of--- you are in a large and currently widening worldwide group when it comes to those feelings! The real lunatics are running the asylum, it's natural to feel in such a way.
I installed something that blocks social media. Finding out about the news on BBC instead of through the lens of someone raging on Reddit has done wonders for my depression about current affairs.
Don't think about future then. Surround yourself with, think little things that are good. Rebuild some of the pleasant neural pathways that have obviously taken a bit of a knock for any of a million reasons. What MIGHT you like to do? Doesn't have to eventuate. Daydream. https://youtu.be/r1sDjWfDa4w?si=2HzE7d91QnPTsz4S
This made me think. The point is realise that you CAN literally stop your thoughts from forming 'bad' connections, and make them form 'good, productive, calming' connections. Literally say "NO" out loud and make yourself look at or do something gentle and kind for yourself. https://youtu.be/Rvmvt7gscIM?si=TLln0O9HBYumKY4t
Stop watching cable opinion news, watch local news and change it as soon as the orange one comes on to lie. I find not looking at or hearing his voice actually helps.
Seriously - sounds like a good therapist is what you need. I don't think there's a book for these times. I don't know if you have one, or your health insurance coverage, but take care. Remember to live one day at a time, recite the Serenity prayer morning and evening.
Breathe. Seriously, a few deep breaths. What works for me is to consider that we have a moral duty to hope. And that means being consciously grateful for the good things that are still right here. Once you starting looking for the good and remembering to actually smell the roses, you'll find a lot.
Comments
For a lot of people we feel the terror and despair because we don’t feel like we have any power over the situation. IMO the solution is to find ways to regain control over small actions we can do every day
https://slime-mold.beehiiv.com/p/thanks-for-the-memories
https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/791-hope-in-the-dark
https://buttondown.com/theswordandthesandwich/archive/my-week-with-the-witches/
Hell yes, because we’re going to out-stubborn those bastards.
I think the despair is in not seeing what to hope for, beyond "stop THIS". So, what (rhetorically) do you choose to hope for? Find others hoping the same. We're here.
Something that shifted for me recently is that hope (often) doesn't feel "hopeful." Hope isn't excitement— it's just determination.
we're reaching a breaking point here. we've got GOP voters screaming at their representatives, blocking in their SUVs
people are turning on Trump and Musk
https://youtu.be/r1sDjWfDa4w?si=2HzE7d91QnPTsz4S