I feel similarly to you except I guess my life wasn't as impacted: I'm in my mid-sixties and I think age makes a difference - I'm not aiming for anything career-wise and I was (and still am) single and thus wasn't in a relationship with someone who bought the BS. However, I think I've been in low-grade depression ever since because I find it hard to get over how most people - including most of my friends - not only bought the BS but are also quite hostile to argument exposing it as BS. 20 years ago I had a boyfriend who is a very nice guy but I always knew we weren't suited because I found him too reverential of institutions despite his reporting to me bad experiences in his Catholic primary school and in the navy. I wasn't anticipating a situation such as the BS pandemic at that time and, in fact, was totally clueless about the Big Lies they inundate us with but I just felt that strong sense of difference in values. We are still friendly and - very unsurprisingly - he has totally gone along with it. I don't know if he has any doubts at all because we haven't discussed it but I know that he, his wife and 13 yo daughter all had the jab - whether they only had it due to the mandates or whether they all had it willingly I don't know.
One thing for sure - while my friendships with people who buy the BS are severely impacted but are limping along for the moment (although some finished) - I could never have stayed in a relationship with someone who buys it and I marvel at couples who have stayed together despite having very different views on the subject.
I too often found myself raging about things I had no way of affecting. It was a contributing factor in an addiction that got way out of control. In recovery for that, I discovered the Serenity Prayer (which, being an atheist I changed to Serenity Statement) which goes:
Gawd,
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change
The courage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know the difference.
When I discovered that, I thought - wow, I don't have to endlessly obsess about all this bullshit that I have absolutely no way of changing! It was a life changer.
So now seeing the same kind of mentality unfolding about Carney as has happened way too many times to count in this country, I'm just accepting that I can't do anything about the attitudes and short memories of all these morons that should never be allowed to vote for anything.
I'm thinking that for those of us who observe, and think, and see several moves down the road, that we should be investing our time and energy in getting together with like minded individuals so that even if we can't come up with ways to fight these things we can at least enjoy our time together in blissful ignorance!
OK maybe I am starting to go a little insane. It happens to the best of us.
I LOVE your Serenity Statement - brilliant! It's a very hard thing to achieve. I also think there's a difference between 'things I can change' -emphasis on the "I", and "things that can be changed". There's a wide variation in temperaments between people; some people become very positively-charged and filled with energy when they engage in activism (political or any other type), some adore debating/discussing issues that are controversial and require nuance... some don't. To accept that I am not able to change things that others might be able to is tough, and then even tougher, all the things that no one can change (some things are simply a function of human nature, unchangeable). Finding peace of mind, that state of serenity... really hard. I fully agree that choosing where to invest our time and energy wisely is critically important to maintaining sanity.
Thank you for your comment, I wish you serenity and sanity as much as possible, and when they're not attainable, hang in there until they come back.
Thanks Jenny Joy for the greenwashing of white priviledge cross-post.. I was thinking of you when I wrote it.
It turned into a rant in the middle. It drives me mad that people think they're saving the world by exploiting pigs. So scientifically illiterate and hippy dippy. It was in response to a post I'm blocked from- but feel free to comment on https://memypigsandi.substack.com/p/the-future-of-livestock-farming-its
I feel similarly to you except I guess my life wasn't as impacted: I'm in my mid-sixties and I think age makes a difference - I'm not aiming for anything career-wise and I was (and still am) single and thus wasn't in a relationship with someone who bought the BS. However, I think I've been in low-grade depression ever since because I find it hard to get over how most people - including most of my friends - not only bought the BS but are also quite hostile to argument exposing it as BS. 20 years ago I had a boyfriend who is a very nice guy but I always knew we weren't suited because I found him too reverential of institutions despite his reporting to me bad experiences in his Catholic primary school and in the navy. I wasn't anticipating a situation such as the BS pandemic at that time and, in fact, was totally clueless about the Big Lies they inundate us with but I just felt that strong sense of difference in values. We are still friendly and - very unsurprisingly - he has totally gone along with it. I don't know if he has any doubts at all because we haven't discussed it but I know that he, his wife and 13 yo daughter all had the jab - whether they only had it due to the mandates or whether they all had it willingly I don't know.
One thing for sure - while my friendships with people who buy the BS are severely impacted but are limping along for the moment (although some finished) - I could never have stayed in a relationship with someone who buys it and I marvel at couples who have stayed together despite having very different views on the subject.
Yes I marvel at that as well... relationships can be so complicated. Thank you for sharing your experiences ❤️
You write so beautifully Jenny Joy. 🙏🏽
Thank you so much for the kind words ❤️
Thanks for this Jenny.
I too often found myself raging about things I had no way of affecting. It was a contributing factor in an addiction that got way out of control. In recovery for that, I discovered the Serenity Prayer (which, being an atheist I changed to Serenity Statement) which goes:
Gawd,
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change
The courage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know the difference.
When I discovered that, I thought - wow, I don't have to endlessly obsess about all this bullshit that I have absolutely no way of changing! It was a life changer.
So now seeing the same kind of mentality unfolding about Carney as has happened way too many times to count in this country, I'm just accepting that I can't do anything about the attitudes and short memories of all these morons that should never be allowed to vote for anything.
I'm thinking that for those of us who observe, and think, and see several moves down the road, that we should be investing our time and energy in getting together with like minded individuals so that even if we can't come up with ways to fight these things we can at least enjoy our time together in blissful ignorance!
OK maybe I am starting to go a little insane. It happens to the best of us.
I enjoy your writing, Jenny Joy.
I LOVE your Serenity Statement - brilliant! It's a very hard thing to achieve. I also think there's a difference between 'things I can change' -emphasis on the "I", and "things that can be changed". There's a wide variation in temperaments between people; some people become very positively-charged and filled with energy when they engage in activism (political or any other type), some adore debating/discussing issues that are controversial and require nuance... some don't. To accept that I am not able to change things that others might be able to is tough, and then even tougher, all the things that no one can change (some things are simply a function of human nature, unchangeable). Finding peace of mind, that state of serenity... really hard. I fully agree that choosing where to invest our time and energy wisely is critically important to maintaining sanity.
Thank you for your comment, I wish you serenity and sanity as much as possible, and when they're not attainable, hang in there until they come back.
Thanks Jenny Joy for the greenwashing of white priviledge cross-post.. I was thinking of you when I wrote it.
It turned into a rant in the middle. It drives me mad that people think they're saving the world by exploiting pigs. So scientifically illiterate and hippy dippy. It was in response to a post I'm blocked from- but feel free to comment on https://memypigsandi.substack.com/p/the-future-of-livestock-farming-its