Let me preface this post by saying I am not suicidal. I have no plans to kill myself.
But I admit I have been thinking a lot about not existing anymore. I have felt very overwhelmed, and there is something that comforts me in knowing that at some point, I will be free from consciousness. I do not remember my life before my birth, and I expect death will be similar. There will come a point when none of this will matter.
It really makes me look at the whole scrapbooking thing as a bit of a time-waster.
(My kids might care about my scrapbooks a little, but their kids won't, and their kids won't. It will all eventually be garbage. I admit this is not a hopeful outlook on life, but that is how my brain works.)
I am still angrier than I should be, perhaps. I think what I am most angry about now is that I feel like I can't trust media outlets for news. Am I reading real news or fake news? Should I do my due diligence and read 26 other news articles to corroborate the news that I just read?
I feel a lot like I did when I had gestational diabetes and every single bite of food I put in my mouth was analyzed and scrutinized and very much not enjoyed. That feels a lot like trying to be a responsible person who keeps up with world events right now.
I have lurked a bit on Facebook, and posted a couple things via Instagram, but I find it a little troubling how quickly everyone went from election elation/agony to posting photos of dinners. Of course, at the same time, whenever someone I know does post something political, I feel my chest tighten up because I'm wondering about the validity of information in the post and what lens they are viewing things from and what source they got the info from and whether they skew left or right or whatever.
Suffice it to say, social media right now is not my friend.
Substitute teaching would be a good distraction if it wasn't so damned depressing at times. I am often subbing with kids whose lives are chaotic and the stuff of which nightmares are made. Kids who have been getting their education in the midst of being in a treatment facility for depression or other more difficult and complicated psychological issues. Kids who flee their homes in the middle of the night because a parent comes in and starts whooping up on them.
I have been submerged in my little middle-class cocoon for many years and forgotten. I guess it has been good for me to be around middle schoolers who don't read as well as my first grader. It makes me thankful for my own life and determined to make whatever positive difference I can make in their lives.
But it is not much....that difference. And that is when I take a deep breath, think about my future freedom from consciousness, feel a wash of comfort at my trivial place in this world, feel a wash of sadness at my trivial place in this world, and continue (somehow) plugging along.
But I admit I have been thinking a lot about not existing anymore. I have felt very overwhelmed, and there is something that comforts me in knowing that at some point, I will be free from consciousness. I do not remember my life before my birth, and I expect death will be similar. There will come a point when none of this will matter.
It really makes me look at the whole scrapbooking thing as a bit of a time-waster.
(My kids might care about my scrapbooks a little, but their kids won't, and their kids won't. It will all eventually be garbage. I admit this is not a hopeful outlook on life, but that is how my brain works.)
I am still angrier than I should be, perhaps. I think what I am most angry about now is that I feel like I can't trust media outlets for news. Am I reading real news or fake news? Should I do my due diligence and read 26 other news articles to corroborate the news that I just read?
I feel a lot like I did when I had gestational diabetes and every single bite of food I put in my mouth was analyzed and scrutinized and very much not enjoyed. That feels a lot like trying to be a responsible person who keeps up with world events right now.
I have lurked a bit on Facebook, and posted a couple things via Instagram, but I find it a little troubling how quickly everyone went from election elation/agony to posting photos of dinners. Of course, at the same time, whenever someone I know does post something political, I feel my chest tighten up because I'm wondering about the validity of information in the post and what lens they are viewing things from and what source they got the info from and whether they skew left or right or whatever.
Suffice it to say, social media right now is not my friend.
Substitute teaching would be a good distraction if it wasn't so damned depressing at times. I am often subbing with kids whose lives are chaotic and the stuff of which nightmares are made. Kids who have been getting their education in the midst of being in a treatment facility for depression or other more difficult and complicated psychological issues. Kids who flee their homes in the middle of the night because a parent comes in and starts whooping up on them.
I have been submerged in my little middle-class cocoon for many years and forgotten. I guess it has been good for me to be around middle schoolers who don't read as well as my first grader. It makes me thankful for my own life and determined to make whatever positive difference I can make in their lives.
But it is not much....that difference. And that is when I take a deep breath, think about my future freedom from consciousness, feel a wash of comfort at my trivial place in this world, feel a wash of sadness at my trivial place in this world, and continue (somehow) plugging along.
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