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My happy break is gardening. But it's January, so I'm sowing Foxglove seeds in trays & rooting cuttings from houseplants. It helps.

I agree

I had to move to a whole other state once based on the continuous cortisol dump that was causing me to grind my teeth every morning the minute I woke up. Americans will have PTSD from this era, at the very least. Escaping to cat videos and happy hobbies between protest marches is necessary.

#balance

I alternate following the news (not all of it is bad - there are occasional points of light and fight) with looking at pictures of cats, dogs, rabbits, capybyras, and other soothing creatures.

The bad news started in 2016. There was a respite from 2021 to 2024, and then it started again.

I've been feeling the weight of this myself a lot as of late, and I think I'm finally just...exhausted with the mental survival mode I've been in. I want to do my best to get back to things I enjoy, but it's just so hard. Even my writing just feels like going through the motions as of late.

That may work for you, and I'm not faulting you for it. But I can say that for ME that only makes it worse. The only antidote for me is to do all I can to oppose this fascist regime. Every chance I get, I protest, sometimes traveling an hour or more. For my mental health.

More and more I'm wondering if social media isn't a net detriment to society. I don't want to cede the forum but man has life gotten worse since everyone got online. I miss when the internet was only us weirdos.

I agree with this. It’s been going on since the real estate developer/reality TV actor decided to enter politics at age 70.

If you turn off the bad news, it doesn't happen. Oh no wait that's bullshit and making excuses for inaction.

3/3 drives me through my depression. Please consider getting involved, either with RefuseFascism.org or another group to find a positive way to deal with the barrage of horrific events and changes. In solidarity!

You’re on to something, there. Seriously, it’s cold comfort to know that there are so many others out there that are feeling the same rotten despair, and are taking solace in some of the same things!

Oh hell yes you have to have escaped to somewhere or something positive the past 5 years or you would be insane by now. What gets me is the constant lying and word manipulation by mostly all of the news media. It's insulting and infuriating. I can't watch.

Agree with this 100%

There’s also a point to be made for working on and actively compensating for your own negative bias against bitterness. This type of degrading harm leading to disregard has been weaponized against women forever. Simply accepting it as natural is incompatible with actively working for justice.

I think everyone needs a break from this ever present insanity to do something you enjoy - not so much to escape the insanity, but to prevent becoming dangerously immune to it.

It's worth noting that even soldiers in warzones usually get to take breaks. Armies that couldn't rotate troops back to a safe area to rest, regroup, and rerecover historically don't tend to be doing well. It's a bit of a stretched metaphor, but you get it I'm sure.

Hobbies and things that bring us joy are essential right now. It's ok to take a break and engage in self-care for a while. Sometimes, we have to talk each other down from the ledge. Hugs.

It’s what I had to do. Sometimes you drown so much in the noise and static that you don’t really realize how loud things were until it gets quiet. You spend a couple day’s disconnected you realize that the only thing making your life hell is the stuff that certain people feed you.

I’ve taken to saying “not my Jurassic Park, not my velociraptors” these days.