He hasn’t read this many disturbing responses since he was introduced to Sesame Street in the first place.
I am legitimately trying to figure out why the fuck it is I am seemingly the only person in the world who is okay right now.
What the hell are you all doing or going through that is ruining your life, and how can I help alleviate your suffering?
I think asking is good, and this may be worth getting into for other reasons - but know that this is a one way trip.
I’d suggest starting with the things that helped me unfuck my shit (partially, anyway!). First, if you haven’t already, check out Kurzgesagt’s Optimistic Nihilism video. If you find that interesting, continue on to absurdist philosophy, especially Camus (Sisyphus, Stranger) and Sartre (Nausea). After that, existentialism - I think I’d probably start with Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl.
Once you begin to get a feel for these ideas, I think a high-level reevaluation of deeply held beliefs and how you perceive the world around you becomes inevitable.
In terms of your question and what you are seeing, I believe these trends represent a larger collective awakening. Not a miracle, but something borne out of necessity: for anyone brave enough to take their head out of the sand for thirty seconds, environmental concerns alone are completely fucking overwhelming, and obviously that’s just a start.
I do take solace in this development, though. Somehow, even without actively studying philosophy, teens today (and even younger!) appear to have, to a degree, an intuitive understanding of these concepts. That’s wild! When I was in high school in the late 90s, genuinely thinking for yourself wasn’t tolerated the way it is today. Sure, there were punks and goths and whatever, but for anyone who dared to question the paradox of asserting one’s uniqueness through group affiliation, the road was much bumpier than it seems to be today.
I actually had to remind one of my children at around 10 years of age that she should be careful telling her peers things like “god isn’t real and nothing really matters” … admittedly she was raised in a “we always respect people with different beliefs even if we find it difficult to respect their beliefs” home, so the “god isn’t real” part wasn’t a surprise, but she found existentialism on her own.
Consider the complexity of the humour in memes today - I think a lot of older folks dismiss it as vapid and banal, and while some definitely lands there, the baseline tends to include a lot more irony, sarcasm, and even elements of these more abstract philosophical ideas in ways that older generations tend to struggle with. At first glance it appears completely nonsensical, but upon superficial understanding it quickly becomes “antisocial” and offensive: how dare you find camaraderie in joking about suicide, and do you really think the collapse of civilization would be a good thing? This is more than gallows humour.
And perhaps your comment was more flippant than my initial interpretation and this will just come across as obtuse and condescending - I hope not, as that is definitely not my intent. If it was sincere and you are just beginning down this path, I hope my perspective makes a difference for you. I suspect it is obvious, but my own experience with this was not pleasant; it took me many years to find my way through and feel ok about continuing, in the broadest sense. With a bit of discipline and thoughtfulness, I think you should be able to mitigate the psychological risks inherent in exploring some of the more fundamentally challenging implications of nihilism.
Tbh I just want to work a job that can pay the bills and support a potential retirement. For so many of us this is all we want. We are willing to work, just not to some abhorrent degree or in wholly unreasonable, inhumane conditions. Many of us aren’t asking to become filthy rich, just rich enough that things like bills and a scraped knee don’t extend our retirement age another 20 years.
how can I help alleviate your suffering?
drugs and/or guillotines
I like you.
I’d have to say I’m doing alright myself. I don’t make a lot of money. I’m not happy with politics and other things in the world but I’m thankful for what I have and that I am okay. I actively work to make my life better in whatever ways I can. I’ve met tons of people who don’t and are unhappy.
I think people are unhappy are more likely to say something in response to something like the Elmo tweet rather than say “I’m doing great/good/alright.”
Many people don’t feel in control of their futures. In general, people in the “global South” have way fewer opportunities to start with. It doesn’t matter how hard you work if you live in a dictatorship. Or if you never had a good breakfast before math in primary school. Of if half of your waking hours are spent commuting in dilapidated busses packed with people.
These are in reality the hardest working people; every waking hour can be challenge if you are poor.
This is why I shut down reddit once and for all. It was all ragebait, sad news, doom and gloom. They posted a very, very, very horrifying, very sad news on the frontend that affected me for weeks. You know when people post “That’s enough reddit for me for today”? I said “that’s enough reddit for me for good!”
Reddit used to be a fun place. I legitimately went there knowing that, five minutes in, I’d be laughing my ass off.
I can only imagine Twitter must be much, much worse.
Lemmy… hm, Lemmy is going down that path. I try to stick to my tech community subs, but every now and then I check the frontpage and, if it’s not a bunch of deadhorse memes, then it’s stuff like this “nobody is ok” post.
I’m almost convinced that an AI (or “dem illuminaccies”) are trying to bring the mood down on everyone on the internet, so it’s easier to harvest their organs or something.
I am legitimately trying to figure out why the fuck it is I am seemingly the only person in the world who is okay right now.
This is how I felt in 2020-most of 2022, while everyone seemed to have their worlds crumbling around them I felt wonderful. Then my best friend lost his battle with alcoholism and depression, and things have not gotten better, it has been just one kick in the nuts after the next. But I am persisting.
nobody’s ok right now
This was a Twitter post, so of course no one who replied is ok, they’re Twitter users.
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The older I get the more I can relate to this quote from Friends:
I’m definitely not doing okay considering I’ve got an appointment at the Mayo Clinic in March… but hey, the end of this month will be my six month anniversary of not eating any solid food. So hooray!
Good luck at the Mayo Clinic, but I hear their Ketchup therapy leaves something to be desired.
Oof…
I’m glad you got an appointment! I’ve been passively following your story through your comments and I’m rooting for you. I really hope you find answers soon!
Thank you!
like not the onion but it’s not bertstrips
Let’s see my list of anxiety:
- Climate Change
- The rise of fascism (and being in a marginalized group targeted by fascists)
- Inflation eating into my earnings and savings
- The entire marketplace being dominated by broken, fake or scam services and products.
- Pretty severe imposter syndrome and the related feeling that my job mobility is bad because I’m not valuable.
- Anxiety and ADD feeling worse than ever and having little hope to get help treating it.
God damnit. Am I leaving comments from alt accounts in my sleep again?
All this and also my roof is leaking because my fucking landlord only gets hack fixes from a fucking handyman instead of maintaining my goddamn home
Document it and withhold rent until it’s remedied properly. Is there a tenant union in your area you could reach out to for assistance and guidance?
Its ok she will fix it, its just going to be 4 shitty repairs instead of one good one, besides my parents are on the lease and they don’t want to raise a fuss. Thanks for your advice.
Small comfort, but the thing with Fascism is that it is a cult of power. Nobody is safe, anyone can be targeted, including those who support it most fervently. Anyone with half a brain knows that under fascism they’re one week and whim from being the next target, so know that you aren’t alone.
It’s certainly frustrating to watch people who would definitely end up in camps supporting the fascist take-over of their country. But they think they’re special and unique and the face-eating leopard won’t eat their face.
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i like how it’s some fucking revolation. Like, just look around. poke around on the internet for 10 min. Large, HUGE amounts of people have not been ok for a long time. What’s sad is everyone has their fucking heads too buried in their phones and ipads to notice.
I think that “heads buried” comment may just be the newest “kids these days”. It was always complaints going back to television, then radio, even as far back as carrying newspapers on the morning trolley.
I know it often seems like people just aren’t engaged - but it’s usually how they engage, for better or worse.
Except it’s not just “kids”. It’s everyone. Look around.
Right? Buddha laid down the science of the four Noble truths a long ass time before the internet.
Suffering is an ancient companion of our species.
The only reason I’ve not killed myself is cos I’ve been failing for 20yrs to do it. Don’t expecyt me to enjoy this fucked up existence just because I have no fucking choice but to live in it.
Life is just a different type of prison.
Step away from the news cycle, friend. Stick to topics that bring you joy, be it space, guitars, whatever. Three weeks of that, and your outlook will be better. Also, cut your social media consumption down to one, maybe two days per week.
I’m not saying that’s all you need to do. I know mental health is a very complicated subject! I myself suffer from anxiety. But I did the above, and it’s made a difference.
You matter, friend!
I don’t think this advice actually works well for everyone. Receding more into isolation is just as exhausting and depressing to some as being aware but part of the mess.
I honestly think people just want to feel productive and see strives for making things better. Stuff that is hard to do personally and unfortunately not very present in society at large.
Ignorance is bliss only if you start and stay ignorant. You can’t put the horrors of the world back in the box once the lid is opened.
I know you mean well but I personally see how this can feel very surface level and not be super helpful even though I don’t personally know what advice is. It’s kinda hard for a singular person to truly understand another. We try and that’s good though, it’s what really makes us human. Hope we get more of that.
Thanks for your insight, and I of course agree with you.
I guess my advice is incomplete. More isolation sucks for many for sure, yes. Something that I have also done is change communities for a while. Or at least turn off those individuals that aren’t nothing but doom and gloom and “debbie downers.” Plus trying to remember that social media life is not real life can help a little. If you see a friend on a yatch, what you don’t see if the times that friend has a pretty much boring life, or even hitting rock bottom.
Here’s an extreme, but I know people who have amazing instagram photos, and they’re dealing with drugs, alcohol and an abusive partner, for instance - yeah, I’d rather have my “boring life.” But I digress.
Mental health is a complicated matter, and I hope OP is reading this thread. Ultimately, what matters is that OP reaches out to someone, preferably a professional, and share their struggles.
Yeah. I fucked up an attempt so bad that actually it made me make an agreement to never try again.
I get it. It sucks cause you know that there is an option for it to be over but when you take it… Well everything is over and it’s as awful as you left it. I hold out on the sliver of hope that it’s gonna get better, cause nothing stays the same for long. It will change and then you can revaluate again.
Death can be pretty final. And the last thing you experiencing being pain and sadness is not a good way to go. Don’t expect to enjoy every moment of life though. That’s a dream that doesn’t exist. But try to enjoy what you can and live knowing the other side is for later.
I don’t do it because I’m not willing to transfer my pain to my family members.
Oh you have a family? Must be nice.
My random list
-
climate change, I live in BC and summers are literally apocalyptic, ash raining from the sky and can’t even see the sun
-
loss of biodiversity which is plainly obvious with every passing year. Recently drove to Alaska without having to clean bugs off windshield
-
clearcut forest no matter where you look
-
never getting my own house despite “doing everything right” and well above average income
-
one bag of groceries is like $100
-
never having kids or a family, obvious reasons
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no real friends since I graduated college, social media ruined everything
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friends I had are priced out and are thousands of km away, or dead
-
housing so fucked that I have spent the last five years looking for a rental that allows a cat and still looking, I feel like if I just had a cat I would be so much happier
-
aging population and constantly going to funerals
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various addictions I’ve lost control over since pandemic
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cost of travel increasing exponentially so that’s coming to an abrupt end too
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impossible to go outside without reminder of total societal collapse, teslas cruising around on streets full of homeless people
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haven’t seen a doctor in years because there are none
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have to go to work in 10 minutes but didn’t get a wink of sleep last night or the night before it, this is probably the main reason this comment was so whiny
You’re not whiny. Don’t denigrate yourself the way boomers bullied you to. Your feelings and concerns obviously do matter.
Maybe later I’ll edit the post with a list of things I’m grateful for because there are a lot of them, too
hi! it’s been about three hours since you posted this. you doing better?
Appreciate you checking in, I actually called out sick today and going to spend the day in the forest to recharge a bit.
I need to be doing that more often. Thanks for the inspiration.
It’s a great exercise on mindfulness which is incredibly important at least for my brain. Rather than trying to hike the longest distance sometimes it’s better to sit completely still for an extended period of time and allow the birds to get used to your presence. It’s quite humbling when the patience pays off.
Hey if you ever end up getting a place that allows cats, please get two. When you are away at work they can socialize with each other. I’m not saying having only one cat is animal abuse or anything, it’s just better to have two.
-
I’m sad there’s been virtually no snow all winter and I’m in Canada. That’s a bad sign. Ski slopes might as well close for good.
I live in Iowa but work remotely for a company in Minnesota - we got like 2 feet more snow than Minnesota did with the blizzard a few weeks back. The climate has been so crazy these last few months
Is that abnormal?
Minnesota is infamously cold. Iowa is famous for corn.
The last few winters my dad had to drive up to Minnesota when he wanted to snowmobile - we would have like 1 inch of snow while they had feet of it
Same here. The mountain I frequent just put in a high speed lift, went operational Dec 24. After Christmas they got rain for at least a couple of days during break and I didn’t even try skiing then.
My kids went sledding one day last season and one day so far this season. The ground barely freezes so the mice and ticks will be in force come spring.
I’m in New England so further south but I do remember the times we had snowy Christmases and could skate on the ponds. Hopefully my kids might be able to experience that but I have my doubts, I doubt I will ever see that again.
I remember when I had to stuff a snowsuit beneath my Halloween costume. I only ever once saw a green Christmas in childhood, and now I don’t know the last time I saw a white one. This year we’ve had like a day of very mild snowfall and one fairly cold week, and it’s just pure mud out there and hovering around 3C. It isn’t good at all.
I’ve been working harder at work for a promotion. I’m not going to get it. I fucking hate work, it’s not particularly hard, it’s just unfulfilling and boring. I dread work every day. I would go somewhere else but hate interviewing because even for 1 job it’s at least 4 interviews and tests. I can’t afford to take a cheaper job. I took today off though so that’s nice.
If you’ve been working hard at work to get a promo, it’s probably time to get that promo, but externally. You’ll probabaly get better pay that way too.
When putting together your resume, remeber to use the xyz format for your job successes “achieved x, doing y, with z results”. This helps provide hiring managers and recruiters an idea of your performance and what type of results you can likely deliver for their team.
You are going to suffer every day just to avoid 4 interviews?
I interview for a new job every now and then, like twice a year, even tho I don’t hate my job.
It’s a fun process that can only go well (worst case, everything stays the same) and you practice your interview skills. And you get a first hand peek into the job market to help you negociate your current job conditions. And you get to know new people, companies, processes and technologies.
Enjoy the day off
Work to live, not live to work
Well the first problem is the question was asked on Musk’s hellsite. No one who still uses that platform is ok.
I’ve seen Elon Musk nick’d as ElMo, so it get’s meta…
And you’re not wrong, hence here.
For mental health, I hope this helps - vent your frustrations to the whole world little froggy:-).
My favorite will always be the scrooge one he did on Christmas Wednesday
Link? I saw Christmas but never a Scrooge one.
Though I felt like the death metal one fit the OP better:-).
OMG thank you for that experience!!! Ngl it had me in that first half… :-D
I don’t think I will ever be able to watch another YouTube video ever again, without half expecting this to occur again. Like lightning striking twice, it will almost never happen, but IF it did, dude IF it only would… :-P
Just the sound changing as he closes the window gets me every time.
That’s how you know that it’s a true story:-D.
