When we all went into this thing in March, I attempted to stay as favorable as possible. Instead of going out and about, I went on YouTube, and Instagram, and Periscope (by means of Twitter), and did an average of five online interviews a day for several weeks. You can speak to numerous times more individuals online than in person, and those people can be from all over the world.
Thats the worst part of all of this: it keeps going and going, with no end in sight. Im going to take a time out on a few things for a while: keeping up with my email, most of my interviews, many social media, and YouTube.
Life
The Constant Barrage of Bad News.
Thats the worst part of all of this: it keeps going and going, without any end in sight. You thought COVID was improving? Well, possibly in some places it is, but in other locations its even worse. Its like a computer game employer who keeps coming back after you kill him.
Add on top of that whatever else: more cops brutality with little responsibility, groups that pass on conspiracy theories about Bill Gates kidnapping children, the 42% of individuals who will vote to reelect the president this fall even if he truly does shoot someone on Fifth Avenue, and so on.
Oh, and I didnt indicate to bury the lede: over the past week the west coast (practically all of it!) has been on fire. Portland, Oregon had the worst air quality on the planet, including every city in India and China.
All we require now is an asteroid to hit the earth … but wait, it looks like thats happening too, literally the day prior to the U.S. election.
So yeah– 2020 draws! Thats all there is to it. I still desire to come out of it better than I remained in February, but the chances arent terrific at the minute.
Of course, let me be clear: if youre having a banner year, good for you. Im not at all sad about somebody else moring than happy.
If youre struggling this year, nevertheless, understand that you belong to an extremely large club. None of us wish to be in this club, however here we are.
Every day brings more discouraging news of one kind or another. We arent sure whats coming next. Yet obviously we withstand, due to the fact that life is still great even when it doesnt appear that method.
Im going to take a pause on a few things for a while: keeping up with my e-mail, most of my interviews, a lot of social media, and YouTube. I wont stop doing everything, of course, and hopefully I wont stop for long.
I encourage you to do whatever you need to care for yourself during this time. Simply hang in there, because this too shall pass– eventually.
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Images: Edwin Hooper, Cagle Cartoons.
When we all went into this thing in March, I tried to stay as positive as possible. I still think whatever I said before, about how I want to come out of this time much better than I was when it began, etc.
However then the spring turned to summer, and the summertime to fall (a minimum of in my part of the world). And nothing truly improved! Rather the opposite, in fact.
Now were all setting low expectations for requirements of wellbeing. “Hope youre hanging in there” is the new “Hope youre doing well.” And lets face it, lots of individuals arent doing well.
Finally, Ive come to the point of sensation defeated about the whole year– and I know its not simply me.
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A Few Disclaimers
Lets get the obligatory disclaimers out of the method. In regards to scenarios, I have it far better than the majority of individuals. My work does not require me to be in any particular location, and I dont have a manager to report to anyhow.
Still– as Ive stated before, simply since youre successful doesnt imply you will not struggle. So I provide this fact to you now too. If you consider yourself relatively well-off, a minimum of compared to everyone whos lost their houses from wildfires this week or, lets be real, the one million individuals who have passed away from COVID-19, that doesnt indicate that your life is terrific today.
Simply put, simply since you have not lost whatever does not imply you need to more than happy all the time. You deserve to feel unfortunate, dissuaded, anxious, or simply depressed.
In my case, I feel all of those things to some degree now. I published The Money Tree in April, the exact same week that whatever went into lockdown. (Unfortunately, in the world of publishing you cant just “press it back a month or two”– these things are prepared far in advance.
I needed to cancel every stop of my 40-city trip, which was particularly unfortunate because its been a very long time since Ive done such a thing. I was truly eagerly anticipating returning on the road and meeting readers.
So instead of going out and about, I went on YouTube, and Instagram, and Periscope (via Twitter), and did an average of 5 online interviews a day for several weeks. In my mind I was thinking, “Maybe this will be much better than going to bookstores in various cities day after day.” You can speak to numerous times more individuals online than in individual, and those people can be from all over the world.
Well, an intriguing thing happened. What I noticed (and Ive heard the exact same thing from other developers) is that doing all the live streams was incredible at. People were really delighted to link, even without much of a subject or lesson. I thought, fine, possibly this is the new way forward.
Then, over time, the numbers went down, the engagement reduced. People stopped caring as much, and I cant really blame them. Once again, everyone is having a hard time.
Its not that it wasnt enjoyable, since it was. I discovered through the process. However in the end, it wasnt unbelievable, it wasnt awful, it was simply … fine. Which is how I feel about a lot of things nowadays.
I think the coronavirus live-stream hopping effect happened because there is no answer to all of this. So everyone simply hops around, searching for community and connection. And when they dont discover “the answer,” they move on to something else.
Tags: 2020, stress and anxiety, anxiety, life, pandemic.
