There are still Twinkies.

No, they're not as good as they used to be, but hey they exist.

(After Zombieland I thought you might worry)

There are still communication networks.

The fact you can existentially post this query to billions of strangers online must mean it's not truly hopeless yet, right?

There are still dogs.

At some point we'll probably wipe out most species on the planet - we can't lose that one.

There are still cats.

If they still deign to exist on our plane, maybe it's not as bad as we spoiled humans think.

There are still jobs.

Maybe not great ones, maybe not as many as before, but people are still out there working. Which means we don't have to rely on our non-existent hunter/gather skills yet.

There are still deliveries.

In the past three months I've had Modge Podge, printer ink, graphic novels, black paint, freshly roasted coffee, the first season of Good Omens, boxer briefs, face masks, custom foam core board game miniature storage solutions, dog toys, cat food, and Welsh cakes delivered to my home.

(don't ask, but hey - it all made it)

There are still babies being born.

You think you've got it bad - imagine when they turn two and some poor relic walks up to one of those COVID kids and tries to shake their hand, causing their little social-distanced minds to blow and leaving them rolling on the ground in a fit of tears.

There are still space missions.

'Cause honestly speaking, this rock ain't getting any better so if we don't keep working on how to get off it then you should worry.

There are still good people.

Maybe they're outweighed by bad people, or confused people, or people who just can't right now - but they're out there, and I like to think so long as I can stand at least one other person on this planet then my doomsday scenario has an ally I can rely on to hit the button with me.

Or for me, as I run the other way.

Maybe we'll just both run and throw something at the button.

They're usually big for that purpose, right?

There are still instruction manuals.

In case we do lose all of the above and have to learn to do everything ourselves, including hunt/gather and operate buttons.

*Whenever you're feeling down, remember to always take inventory - what you've got is usually more than your worst case scenario might have imagined.

my dear friend , i posted many articles about feeling better and overcoming depression and anxiety. so have thousands of others.

but anxieties have this way of coming back. maybe just in different form. people have lived with that since the dawn of time and they will continue to do so in the future. all you need to remember is that in the large scale, the entirty of your life, this is just a short moment.

try thinking of this like calculus. i HATED math in highschool. but i remember learning about functions and derivatives.

try to think of it like this. your life is a strange wavy function. the general trend is upward. now. at this moment, the derivative is a downward line. but the line meets the function through only two points. after that, it’s gone.

this crisis will be over. this math will over, this post will be over. and you will rise and laugh.

if that doesn’t help you, let me prescribe a radical treatment. it works like a treat.

find a performance of Franz Schubert piano trio in E flat major. listen to the interplay between the piano, the violin and the cello.

now, go to the second movement. it begins with a slow march-like tempo of the piano, a quiet moment. then the cello comes in and cries his sorrows in what i believe is the most beautiful melody the human race put together. I imagine a trio of friends meeting. they had a happy moment at the first movement. then they settle down , and over the emptying second round, the cello cries. he is broken, he is lonely, he is afraid.

the piano and violin talk it out, they sympathize. they too, have known great pain.

the rest is mostly joyous. things happen . a break from the melancholy.

listen to that cello. listen closely. I beg you. if your heart aches like he does, then you are human. you feel pain. but you have hope.

*i recommend the Heifetz trio, if you can get it. maybe on youtube?

True hope springs from within. There needn't be any external event or circumstance required for bolstering faith or hope. Look to your true self where all your power, knowledge and understanding resides. You already have everything you need, all you have to do is to access it.