Malaise?
Malaise?
Now that the daily battle on social media that was the Trump presidency has ended, many of us are experiencing a malaise. Of course the pandemic, the economic problems, and the divided populace, are ongoing. The fatigue of a year of masks and lockdowns, of apprehension, denial, anger and depression, not to mention existential angst, have left many of us compromised psychologically and physically.
The battle of and for the presidency was a way for us to do something with the anxiety of the pandemic. Now that most of us are no longer crusading as we were, the other problems have a raw imminence that those daily skirmishes helped us mitigate. Where will we put that energy now? A host of neurotic preoccupations and predicaments offer themselves as potential obsessions.
Put it somewhere constructive instead. Work on a creative project. Get some real rest and recreation. Learn some skills you need. Confront your phobias. Get some exercise. Spend some time thinking about, but also feeling, what exactly it is you want in your future. What makes your life worth living? What doesn’t?
Face your feelings and your thoughts as they are, even those you don’t want to admit you have. By learning how to turn malaise into rest, meditation, healing, good habits, and creativity we will be better prepared as life unfolds.
When the pandemic ends there will be great joy, a whole lot of concerts, movies, vacations and parties, and a baby boom, but there will also be malaise and depression, especially for those exhausted by the chaos who long for the past. Now’s the time to work with these issues.
If you feel that you aren’t doing enough every day, relax, get some rest, it’s okay to keep it simple, you don’t have to hit a home run every day. If you feel you have become inert, and harm is accumulating around you, take small steps, actions that help you get ready for the post pandemic world. Don’t mourn before. Imagine after.
