I am so fatigued with so much negativity that happens in the world and in my personal life as well. I have become numb to the topics I used to care such as politics, equal rights, environment and so on: I just want my day to end and that’s it. I don’t think I’m depressed tho (I used to and I know what it is like).
I don’t know what to do. What would you suggest doing? Thank you.
I’m in the acceptance stage of grief; the world is a shithole. Some people will tell you about all the good in the world, but that is just being dismissive of the bad. Good does not simply cancel out the bad, especially when the recipients of the good and bad are different.
Instead, I try to focus on the things that I actually can change. If you have the means, volunteer or donate to a cause that is important to you.
Focus on the micro rather than the macro, otherwise it gets overwhelming.
You can start by trying to stare at this painting for 10 minutes, and tell me what you experience.
Dickbutt? Loss? Come on, there must be something hiding in there…
The real horror starts when you notice the cross above the painting. Specifically, someone anointed it with oil, and it won’t go away from the walls anymmore.
This is why I hike
Is mindfulness what you’re getting at?
I can’t do negative rn, might as well share something that brings peace?
A couple things:
- Use keyword and community filters in Lemmy to clean up what’s presented to you.
- Use the “Not Interested” and “Don’t Recommend Channel” options in Youtube to cull the trash from your algorithm feed.
It will make your life so much more peaceful. Don’t let the algos just blast their firehose of shit at you. Tap your own stream of customized content by interacting with these tools instead.
Get off social media and avoid the negative people in your life as much as you can for a bit. Read some books. Play a chill video game. Make something. Just get away from it for a while so you can re-center yourself.
Things are bad and we should be worried about them but there’s only so much any of us can do about it. If you don’t take care of yourself and your mental health you’re not going to be able to do good for anyone else when the time comes.
This is a call that comes from inside the house.
The world’s the world. There’s always ugliness, corruption, darkness, deception. There’s always beauty, nobility, light, truth.
Watcha lookin’ at?
Pick a point of passion, prepare a plan, purge problems, and pursue progress. Proliferate possibilities and promote prosperity.
Everybody gets the fuckits from time to time.
When I was a teen, I wanted to be the hero who saves the world. That’s impossible. I still felt the desire but age has tempered it. I still wish I could make everything better, but it’s more of a dream than a constant urge. So, I’ve decided to repeat to myself: I can’t save the world, but I can make my corner a little nicer.
Once I started framing my life like that, it’s a bit easier to do small things to improve my life. I can pick up that piece of litter. I can return that shopping cart.
I can’t stop corrupt politicians from being corrupt and ruining the planet and killing other people half a world away. I can only save my friends and family. So I focus on them.
Additionally, I filter out the news that makes me sad (tons still gets thru).
Great job speed running the progressive to reactionary challenge! Most people wait until they’re 30-40 to start being selfish pricks, I’m glad you got it figured out in your early 20s!
Enjoy being numb and ignorant.
I don’t understand what you mean. Can you explain it?
I cannot explain particle physics to a particle.
Get off the internet. Truly. When it gets to be too much, put your device away and do something else. My go-tos, I either cook something, play music or go for a walk.
Anything outdoors. I like mountain biking and gardening, but you do you.
Breaks are important. I think it’s good being interested in politics but too much can be exhausting. What I do is take a long walk preferably in nature. Music is a great outlet as well. And even though I think that you might not feel like doing sports, since I know that kind of fatigue you write about, I believe that this would help, too. And sometimes it’s sleep.
I encounter negativity when discussing politics online. Somehow quite a few people get insulting and expect me to change my view after. It’s irritating and hinders my will to be open minded when discussions are tinted with insults.
Anyway, I hope you find the things your mind needs to recover.
I encounter negativity when discussing politics online. Somehow quite a few people get insulting and expect me to change my view after. It’s irritating and hinders my will to be open minded when discussions are tinted with insults.
In some cases, it has to be people that just get off on conflict. Trolls, but like a kind that pretends to be a normal community participant. In other cases it’s more like they’ve forgotten there’s someone real on the other side.
When you have a good conversation with someone you don’t agree with at all, that shit is fascinating, though.
Gotta find your way back to this vibe. There’s a lot of good out there, a lot to be grateful for. And on a long term timescale the world is in many ways better than ever before on important stuff like infant mortality.
I haven’t seen “look on the bright side” yet.
That’s frequently dumb, unhelpful advice, because it’s presented as a cure-all. But, the way anything negative gets amplified, it’s worth considering if you’re overlooking the good stuff.
Like, most Lemmings have flown on a plane, at near the speed of sound above all the clouds. Cavemen would have killed for that opportunity. When we look at the stars, we know what they actually are. We’re not having more and more kids unsustainably anymore.
Edit: Oh, never mind, I just missed it.
Maybe I’ll just add the abstract idea of hope, then. Things still could turn out okay even if they’re bad now.
I know it really doesn’t help, but remember that this is how they want you to feel
Touch grass. Leave your phone home and go outside and enjoy nature. Go on a hike. Stop reading the news, any news, for a while, you will be fine.
I find that 99% of the negativity is online. Interacting with people in person is way more pleasant and upbeat. And basically on youtube ignore all videos with clickbait titles like “We were Wrong about [whatever] - and it’s NOT GOOD!”, they’re all bullshit.
Hosting one or two regular game nights a week in my house has made a world of difference in my attitude.
speak for yourself. i fine way more negatively, that is way more intense, in person than I do online.
at least online I can find a diversity of opinions, references to facts, and can ignore/block people without consequence.
and i largely share most of my political beliefs with my fellow IRL, I just don’t… share their vitriolic hate of people who are different than themselves. or their incessant need to ‘correct’ other people of their ‘ignorance’
god i can’t even like go to a cafe or a bar for a drink anymore without people around me incessantly going on about stuff like this, even if I’m not directly involved. the narcissism and nastiness is just everywhere in my community, but I do live in a very affluent place full of folks who have zero humility.
Yeah, type of crowd really matters. I mean, they all suck in some way, we’re only human. But not necessarily that way.
I couldn’t agree more. Generally I’m only down on the world when I look at Reddit. It’s important to have a community of real people in rotation.
Moving to Lemmy helped because I only see what I subscribe to and there is no algorithm that is shoving politics in my face constantly.
I feel like Lemmy is like 90% snide remarks or sarcastic comments, not exactly upbeat here either. Depends on your subreddits (sublemmies?) of course
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“On the internet nobody knows you’re a dog”
If you’re noticeably weird in some way, any way, IRL can be harsh. On the internet, there’s more hostility total, but it’s not usually directed at you.
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People have a psychological disposition to latch on to negative ideas faster than positive ones so it makes sense that negative ideas are more viral online
I wonder if that’s a survival mechanism - to dwell on negative events more because they’re more dangerous. My parents, raised during the Great Depression, were always thinking the next one could be right around the corner.
It has to be.
