Detrimental escapism.

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It is hard for me not to feel powerless when I read the headlines. It is also hard for me not to feel powerless when I feel for the people around me who are dealing with tough life issues, and I do not know how to make myself useful at all.

So I smoke weed and waste time playing games or reading manga instead.

I am not actually dealing with what is causing me stress. I always go for the temporary escape. So I remain trapped in a loop of getting stressed, getting high, going to sleep, waking up, engaging in adulting, getting stressed, and so on, and so on.

I am not happy living life this way at all.

Funny thing.
I was just discussing this same topic with a friend over the weekend.
Neither one of us enjoys the horrific news headlines these days.

So I told her some of what I'm personally doing to improve the world:

1) Praying
2) I really need to clean up my apartment better (yep, lots of room for improvement here, heh) ...
3) Painting ... creating art, and putting it out there into the world, to combat the horrific news with beautiful images

If everyone took even just small steps to improve their lives,
just think how much the whole world could improve!

P.S. When author G.K. Chesterton was asked by his editor to describe what was wrong with the world, he replied, ... "I am."

At least we're not dealing with the Hundred Years War, and the Black Death simultaneously.

I would strongly advise against believing every word the media says as the truth, whole truth and nothing but the truth. They're sensationalists, not realists. They're never giving you the full story. Working yourself up over media headlines is letting yourself be scared by shadows sometimes.
I've been thinking about being useful too, and I figure, even if it's something small, your own small part, at least you can be part of the solution and not the problem. I am approaching this through an environmental angle, through my own behaviour as well as researching an interest in working in conservation. Maybe you can find an area where you can contribute positively even a little, and proceed from there?

We'd all go crazy if we tried to change the entire world by ourselves.

Just be the best that YOU can be and make a small difference. Just seeing someone smile or the wag of a dog's tail as a result of your actions can be a satisfying moment.

That's putting it mildly. There's an over-arching "Progressive" agenda in commercial journalism, and it depends on you living in fear and feeling like a victim.

Sensationalism rules the media. as a 30+ year veteran of local media, I can tell you even in the smallest newsrooms across the country, phrases like "If it bleeds, it leads," are the mottos they live by. The more horrific the story, the better they like it.

The best things you can do for your own mental health:

1) Assume that "News" is a money-making industry and "truth, honesty and fairness" went out with button-shoes. It's as scripted as anything from Hollywood.

2) Turn it off.

Well, I made a few crucial decisions in the last couple of days.

I decided to do a purge of my hoarding tendencies. And I decided to clean up my apartment and get it looking respectable. Doing those two things felt like I was removing massive weights from my chest.

Plus I decided to do an Xbox Bean Dive next week. Start all of the Xbox games that I purchased but have not touched yet. Get them on my gamertag and make a commitment to all of them. That is going to be f*****g insane. But I think I will have a good time with it.

I think I am going to start visiting the Unitarian Universalist church again on Sundays, as well. I really need to find a social life outside of SAA.

Maybe I will even get around to paying my library fines and start reading classic literature again. The possibilities are endless.

The thing is I need to stop dwelling and wallowing on things I cannot change. I need to accept the things that I can change.