Overall, I'm not great. I have a dogged sense of humor that is wearing thin. I'm glad to have found your writing. I'm glad to be writing myself. My children are well and the weather in Los Angeles is glorious. I feel a bit like a Wallace Stevens poem.
I am also glad to read your writing. It makes me slow down, which is what I constantly need more of. LOL at the Wallace Stevens poem though! Maybe the best thing is to answer this question with a poem. I'm afraid mine seems to eternally be Maggie Smith's "Good Bones."
Isn't the answer always pretty complicated? I'm mad about X, sad about Y, cautiously optimistic about Z, really excited about A, annoyed by B, indifferent to C, which is maybe a thing that I know the questioner cares about.
I'm not generally worried about being judged, so much as worried about giving a paragraph where a pair of words is called for. (I definitely tend that way). And maybe talking about Y makes us both sad, especially where there's A to talk about, that'll be an uplifting experience for the both of us.
We had our first fully vaccinated dinner with a lovely couple in their lovely home last night. Lots of ABCXYZ over the course of a few hours, it it was really neat getting to this. I'd have been as excited to have dinner with them 3 years ago, and the main impact of the pandemic on this event, I would say, is that while 3 years ago they'd have invited 3 couples, this was just us.
All of this is true. I should maybe specify that this is only happening for me among close friends, and partly because so many people have no idea how to answer the question anymore. "How am I? I don't know, honestly. I think I'm fine but things are still hard and I've lost perspective" is what I'm running into a lot and it's something different, a shift from what was in the before times even if people were or weren't fine.
I feel like Covid is the biggest factor. For many, there's the isolation and dull sameness of the days that in some way strips out a sense of purpose. For many others, there's the constant feeling of being put at risk because our value systems are upside-down and inside-out, which strips out a sense of hope while constantly exposing people to others who treat them as if their lives are less worthy. I think all of this combined together give us a confusing mishmash of how we're doing. Throw in the political turmoil and lingering sense of danger as insurrectionists diffuse back into the country, plus looming climate change, and there's a lot of "How do I live my life today, next month, next decade?" that feels overwhelming and impossible to respond to, even when your life is objectively just fine at the moment.
Overall, I'm not great. I have a dogged sense of humor that is wearing thin. I'm glad to have found your writing. I'm glad to be writing myself. My children are well and the weather in Los Angeles is glorious. I feel a bit like a Wallace Stevens poem.
I am also glad to read your writing. It makes me slow down, which is what I constantly need more of. LOL at the Wallace Stevens poem though! Maybe the best thing is to answer this question with a poem. I'm afraid mine seems to eternally be Maggie Smith's "Good Bones."
Isn't the answer always pretty complicated? I'm mad about X, sad about Y, cautiously optimistic about Z, really excited about A, annoyed by B, indifferent to C, which is maybe a thing that I know the questioner cares about.
I'm not generally worried about being judged, so much as worried about giving a paragraph where a pair of words is called for. (I definitely tend that way). And maybe talking about Y makes us both sad, especially where there's A to talk about, that'll be an uplifting experience for the both of us.
We had our first fully vaccinated dinner with a lovely couple in their lovely home last night. Lots of ABCXYZ over the course of a few hours, it it was really neat getting to this. I'd have been as excited to have dinner with them 3 years ago, and the main impact of the pandemic on this event, I would say, is that while 3 years ago they'd have invited 3 couples, this was just us.
It's nice to have true friends with whom you can even pause and sit with the question. It is always complicated and always changing.
"How am I really? How would I even know?"
All of this is true. I should maybe specify that this is only happening for me among close friends, and partly because so many people have no idea how to answer the question anymore. "How am I? I don't know, honestly. I think I'm fine but things are still hard and I've lost perspective" is what I'm running into a lot and it's something different, a shift from what was in the before times even if people were or weren't fine.
I agree! Is it due to the past elections and COVID-19? I am seeing similar behaviors, even from myself!
I feel like Covid is the biggest factor. For many, there's the isolation and dull sameness of the days that in some way strips out a sense of purpose. For many others, there's the constant feeling of being put at risk because our value systems are upside-down and inside-out, which strips out a sense of hope while constantly exposing people to others who treat them as if their lives are less worthy. I think all of this combined together give us a confusing mishmash of how we're doing. Throw in the political turmoil and lingering sense of danger as insurrectionists diffuse back into the country, plus looming climate change, and there's a lot of "How do I live my life today, next month, next decade?" that feels overwhelming and impossible to respond to, even when your life is objectively just fine at the moment.
Very insightful, thank you! Yes, overwhelming is a great way to describe it. Hope you are having a good weekend, irrespective of all of this.
It’s objectively just fine at the moment, for which I’m trying to practice gratitude. Maybe “grateful” is a good answer to aim for.
And speaking of climate change, along with population growth - https://apnews.com/09302e61c5e0ef051f50459f3dcb771f
As I have gotten older (it happens too quickly), I like to try and remember 'Each Day is a Gift'. And it is, and I am grateful :-)