It is important to remember this time of year that Winter can be very depressing, and playing into all of the doom and gloom will only serve to bring down spirits. It is the time to come together with family and find the time to be happy. If you are happy, then spreading cheer will come easily. If you are not content, things have gone wrong for far too long, it could just be you.
I'm not going to lie about it, this is a tough time. I've seen many friends lose themselves. All of the people that died or killed themselves in high school. All of the people that joined the armed forces here in Canada and have had a chunk of their humanity stripped away by war. The unemployed masses, begging, bargaining, and betrayed. Misguided youth raised by the internet and the internet hate machine that are watching without learning. It is enough to drive yourself bonkers.
I have found my inspiration, it is everything that I have mentioned - except set a century ago. Without many of the modern advancements in quality of life, people persevere. With thousands of deaths in the Great War, people persevere. Without ANY access to knowledge libraries, people persevere. Though we may be entering an era of great failure I find myself thinking of these hardships, then the little piece of myself that the Internet created kicks in.
'Schadenfreude' is the best way to describe how I overcome the sadness. And I look at the Great war, because with free and shared knowledge it could have been avoided. I look at people looking to become 'an hero', turns out social darwinism has a filter too. I think about every instance of book burning and propaganda sharing, and appreciate what it has done to increase the value of the truth and human insight. It makes me laugh, and for a moment I forget about how bad it can be today by realizing that anything can be overcome with patience and the basics of living. It is a lot of laughing. LOL
With warm shelter and good food humans can do anything. Without those things they can persevere. This doesn't mean they will pay attention, or share, or listen - because when nobody listens and nobody cares all of the help you need may not come. All of the freedom you have can be taken away. When it is all over there will come another generation, ambivalent to your pain, unaware of your sacrifices and when you proclaim victory they will laugh at you. You will have a choice, then as you do now. Will you set aside your hardship, your past misery, handle the truth and join them?
