Q: Optimist gone bad
Carolyn - I am having such a hard time staying positive. The virus, the politics, the climate change, a hero and a protector (RBG) passing. I've always had a relentlessly positive attitude. Even when I was going through tough times, I'd wake up and see the sun shining and think "this isn't so bad, it's new day." All of that wind is out of my sails. I feel so hopeless about the state of the world, and also apathetic about my day to day life, work, relationships, etc. Like is justice a thing anymore? Is truth? If it's not, what's the point? What do you do to get through times when you feel this way?
A: Carolyn Hax
I think a lot of self-described optimists just woke up to realize they're just weekend warriors who'd thought they were Olympians.
It's okay. Go ahead and feel defeated for a while and go fetal. Maybe choose better snack foods than I did.
Then get back to whatever it is you feel you were put here to get back to. This can be a small thing or something ambitious enough to qualify as life's work. Up to you.
But you might want to start with your visualizations. They, too, can be small--where you think of one thing you can do to make your day better, one beautiful thing. Can you create something, can you clean something, can you write a check to someone, can you go help someone.
Or, it can be as big as the universe. Can you summon a mental image of the earth as viewed from space? And then ask yourself to put your questions in that perspective? Can you, similarly, call up images from difficult times in history? We humans have served up no shortage of horrific-case scenarios to lean on when we think we can't do this, to remind us that people get through stuff we get nightmares just imagining. (Reminder, I'm available for birthday parties!)
Noodle around with these visuals to see if something gives you a sense of relief, or perspective, or motivation. Any one of them is a start. If that leaves you empty, then I urge fiction (whatever absorbs you), rest, try again. It may seem like unproductive escapism and a dereliction of citizen duty, but fiction is a form of empathy training. It's productive, heart-opening, mind-broadening mental rest.
Another restorative escape, or way to regroup, is self-care. Assess, then give yourself what you need.
There will be plenty to do when you're ready. If mindful rest isn't enough to lift you back up, then two more suggestions--talk to your doctor (depression assessment), and narrow your scope. You're thinking national stuff when you have only local, one-human-scale reach, and it's a recipe for helplessness for all but the very very few people who have big power. So, bring your power to bear locally, where you can see a difference. Millions of you doing that can have a history-making effect--but only if each one of you chooses to do it.
— SEP 25, 2020 2:21 EDT