On self-preservation
Yesterday, I found myself Googling “happiest places to live in the world.”
On the tail of reading about the horrific mass shooting in Maine, after reading about the horrific war between Israel and Palestine, after grappling with what it means to be from & live in a country that has continuously been complicit in genocide, I could feel that I was close to spiraling.
It is easy, in these moments, to keep consuming. Consuming the news, consuming infographics, consuming media, consuming podcasts, consuming, consuming, consuming.
It is from a pure place, this consumption. The desire to consume comes from:
✧ An open heart.
✧ A desire to understand.
✧ Your humanity.
✧ The knowing that something disturbing or horrible is happening.
✧ The yearning to learn how to help in whatever way.
✧ Empathy, compassion, kindness, curiosity, and love.
But, in my experience, the desire to consume also comes from desperation. This desperation has many faces, including but not limited to: