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they/them might be giants ☭
@babadookspinoza.bsky.social
Clay (they/them). Communist (ML ☭), anti-imperialist. Philosophy, history and mental health. Find and support my work @losingourmindspod.bsky.social www.patreon.com/LosingOurMindsattheEndoftheWorld Venmo/Cashapp: claymationary :)
7.9k followers689 following8.3k posts
TMbabadookspinoza.bsky.social

NGL: How do you handle how terrible and cruel the world is without being spiritually and emotionally crushed?
To answer this question I need to reject the premise, because I don't think the world itself is cruel and terrible. I'm a pantheist, so I believe in the divine nature of nature. God, to me, then, encompasses both good and evil and so must be greater than both in order to contain them. People can be cruel and terrible, but can a mountain or a lake, even as they cause deaths (and lives)? | don't think so. Nor is human society cruel and terrible; not inherently, at least. It is the economic mode of capitalism and the processes of colonialism and imperialism which are cruel and terrible and encourage the same in us. There is so much beauty in this world, so much that's good! The depths of evil you observe in the world can only be as deep as the heights of the greatest goods, because evil is their negation and inversion-because otherwise these concepts would have no meaning. But my spiritual beliefs have to transcend good and evil, although I do believe the world is beautiful and "good," in
As far as not being emotionally crushed, in addition to the spiritual beliefs I just outlined, which do provide some emotional buffer against the world, I have a support system that includes my girlfriend, my friends, some family, my dog. Having a platform to talk about these things either helps or hurts, I can't decide. And working on a project l'm passionate about, precisely about this (Losing Our Minds at the End of the World) is cathartic and keeps me busy and feeling useful. I play several instruments and I've been writing music feverishly recently, and this creative effort also makes me feel more fully alive and human. But who's to say I'm not emotionally crushed in spite of all these things? Because I certainly am, somewhat. I never mean to present myself as someone who finds any of this easy. But l'm definitely so so lucky to have the love in my life that I do, and to be able to give the love that I am. How I handle it can be summed up: not by myself!
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TMbabadookspinoza.bsky.social

And because escapism was mentioned:

NGL: What you think of escapism as a coping mechanism
There's nothing wrong with escapism per se, but there can be. Every now and then I think we all need to escape for a moment the trials and tribulations of the world. Maybe being self-aware about when you're doing that is a way to avoid doing it when being mindful of reality really matters. Constant escapism is just delusion, and that's where so many of us live full-time. That's something I only expect to get worse. Mindfulness meditation has really helped me to notice when I'm looking to get away from the world and when I'm firmly in it.
But just to give an example of how insidious this all can be, there was a really rough time for me when I was leaning on meditation very heavily and it became the opposite of what it's meant to be: escapism. Instead of calling my attention to reality, I was using the technique of mindfulness meditation in order to induce a kind of self-hypnosis that allowed me to forget about my troubles. Maybe I needed this at the time! But I know it's better when I'm not using it this way.
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TM
they/them might be giants ☭
@babadookspinoza.bsky.social
Clay (they/them). Communist (ML ☭), anti-imperialist. Philosophy, history and mental health. Find and support my work @losingourmindspod.bsky.social www.patreon.com/LosingOurMindsattheEndoftheWorld Venmo/Cashapp: claymationary :)
7.9k followers689 following8.3k posts
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