addendum

I'm not dwelling on it too much - but just a little afterthought to attach to yesterday's blog offering:

I think a lot of what I wrote about, and a lot of the things I struggle with, has been made worse by the way we live our lives these days. I don't want to rant on about social media again, as I've done that to death in the time since I launched this virtual ship on the blogsphere, but I do think that it has exacerbated the worst elements of human life and led us all down a dangerous, ugly path. 

In times past, when you were feeling overwhelmed or scared, you could reach out to your local community for support and guidance. There would often be someone who could lend you a hand with a problem, or who would know what was needed to get you through your current state of confusion. 

Now, most of our 'contact' with other humans is done online, where their only helpful response will be some kind of emoji. And while you're reaching out to them online, you're also seeing the multitude of posts from people who are claiming that their lives are incredible, and seeing them supposedly coping with the very things that are making you feel inadequate; and that cannot be helpful; that will make you feel worse, even though  we all accept that most people's online persona is manufactured, filtered and exaggerated towards the positive. We all feel lost and adrift, and when we need an arm around us and a local support network, we get a quick picture of someone hugging a heart, or someone posting how their situation is worse, as you've given them an opportunity to make it about themselves again. It's making us feel alone, and unprotected, but we're all guilty of contributing.

Anyway, I'll stop talking about it now or it will make me feel morose again.

RC 23-11-24