I have an overwhelming feeling of dread that our society is on the brink of collapse. I think about it daily, how it could be a climate catastrophe or fascism. I know I’m not alone in this; half of people ages 18-29 report feeling anxious most of the time, and honestly, we have good reason to. However, we also have reasons to find the light in our dark situation, which can come in the form of tiny things if you allow yourself to see them. I’ve tried to compile my methods of grounding myself when I’m overcome with anxiety about the world in the hopes that it can help you too.
Get Off Your Phone
We know that smartphones are disconnecting us from the physical world and each other, so much so it’s gotten to a point where we’re in a loneliness epidemic. Now we’re struggling to make the same social bonds that were innate not even 100 years ago. Self-isolation not only results in loneliness, but it also causes you to stew on the negativity you’re bombarded with online. Without the grounding that real-life social interaction brings, everything horrible in the world is amplified by a million and it feels like there’s no hope.Â
Of course, it’s not as simple as that. The draw of constant content and algorithms that show you what you want is hard to resist. To help, I’ve made a list of some things you can do to take you away from the negativity:
- Craft night: My roommates and I have these frequently. We put on some House MD and have our little wine and craft night. Really though, any hobby that has you working with your hands is one of the best ways to connect with reality.
- Go outside: People joke about this whenever someone says something chronically online, but it’s true. This is hard when half the year is gray and cold in Massachusetts, but when it gets warm and sunny out, I spend every moment I can outside. My friends and I love to go swimming in creeks, have picnics in parks or open fields, or simply drive around with the windows down. Physical activity and sunlight are so much more important than you realize until you go outside and experience it.Â
Look Back at History and How We Have OVercome Things in the Past
Indeed, we don’t have the same things our parents did: our trust in the government is at an all-time low and things haven’t felt as unstable as they do right now in generations. But we are also the most diverse generation yet and our passion for equality reflects this. 70% of us support movements like Black Lives Matter, including Republican youths who are twice as likely to support BLM than their adult counterparts. Climate change is one of the biggest issues that our generation is stressed about, and to be honest, it really freaks me out and makes me feel the most helpless. But because so many of us are frightened by this, it means that 70% of us believe that the government needs to improve climate policies. The silver lining is that as we become older, we’re finding our place in positions of power where we can enforce the changes that the majority of us want to see in the world. We just need to look back on how we’ve persevered in the past and look toward the future where we will continue to do so.
Since the dawn of human beings, we have lived in small communities where people know and take care of each other. Seeing the same people all the time and relying on each other — even the smallest social bond helps build trust in one another. When we’re already disconnected from our local community and constantly seeing the right and left as the only two options that hate the other, we don’t have the chance to actually know each other and connect over our similarities. I think the filter bubbles we get trapped in online wrongly water down the opposing side as having completely different ideologies and being against everything the other side is for when that simply isn’t true and we have to remember to recognize that.Â
As important as it is to fight for change in movements bigger than ourselves, small-scale change in your community can be just as important and more rewarding. It can be discouraging when change from a distance is slow and invisible, but when you are working on local projects, you can see the change you’re making as you’re doing it. Grassroots activism has been the basis for larger movements forever.
All this being said, it’s impossible to be 100% loving and trusting. The truth is that corporations, the .01%, and the government do not have our best interests in mind. Almost always, they don’t care about us and will actively make things worse to make a profit. I can’t lie and say that I’m not distressed about the future, but I also look back on history and think of this quote by Ursula K. Le Guin: “We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings.”
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