Keeping Sane In An Insane World

Hola! Work, busy, all the usual excuses for not posting more often. But I’m experimenting with new blog formats and am working on some new stuff for the coming months. 

To massively understate, things have been rough. Less so for me personally, but definitely for many of my countrypeople. There’s also the ongoing misery of watching the US’s role on the world stage become that of the buffoon — no, not even the buffoon, it’s that of the village idiot wandering into center stage of an opera, pushing aside sopranos, tenors, and ballet dancers, taking a massive dump, then throwing a tantrum in the orchestra pit when no one cheers.

My country is experiencing some kind of dreadful fit. I’d like to say it’s Trump’s fault, but he and his cabal of hilariously unqualified and self-serving goons are just the shitfruit borne from a shitty tree that has been growing for some time. I cannot say exactly when this shitty tree took root – but according to historians like Howard Zinn, it’s always been there. Maybe selfishness and a lack of compassion have been the dark side of Patriotism the whole time, and I somehow just didn’t notice. You can’t chant ‘We’re number one!’ without implying everyone else is number two.

However that bit of fecal flora came to be, in a strange way it has been… energizing? Because now I know I can be the change I want to see in the world, to paraphrase Gandhi (who never actually said that) and millions of pillows, t-shirts, bumperstickers and other self-affirming gifts found in Buzzfeed listicles.

“Oh thank goodness the adults are in charge.”

I must confess — during the Obama administration I fell into the spell of contentment. Things were going well. I didn’t pay attention to politics as much as I should have, I didn’t vote as much (not for local elections anyway), I got lazy about giving blood, lazy about self-improvement, lazy about being a Good Person. Basically, I trusted that Adults were in charge, and I didn’t have to do as much work to make the world a better place. I, like others I’m sure, was busy patting myself on the back for putting into office one of the hardest working Presidents in our country’s history… and then I sat on my ass and let him do the work. I admit it, I was one of those people.

I am proud to say that this year I have been busy again. I’m back on my tiny quest to make the world a slightly better place. Maybe it only benefits my friends and family – but though that circle be small, it touches others. Good works gain inertia when people share the load. At least that’s what I tell myself.

I’ve given blood and donated money and goods to various efforts. I’ve been supportive of causes and journalism. I am not the best at promoting causes on social media, but I try to retweet and share as often as possible. I’m keeping an eye on local elections, getting out of the house, and reading to educate and entertain myself. And of course, I’m still writing.

But naturally, I have to pace myself. It’s easy to keep overbusy and wind up exhausted, both from my own activity level and the effort of not screaming ‘ARE YOU SHITTING ME?’ when I read the news at work. Some nights I can’t do anything but sit on my couch, binge-watching Netflix and dvds. On those nights I might go to bed as early as 8pm. I’m incredibly proud that I have not crawled inside a bottle during all this, to be honest.

Practicing self-care, lifting up others, working out, cooking, writing, reading, and seeing my friends has helped keep me sane; what do you do when things go bonkers? Are you taking care of yourself, to the best of your abilities? I hope so!

Author: jennnanigans

Orlando-area writerly person. View all posts by jennnanigans