Hey fellow Covid Cautious people, how do you deal with overwhelming loneliness and despair? Because, y'know, everyone else is fully capable of dealing with these things and it's just me who doesn't know the one weird trick to coping with an absurd and horrific existence.
@Traiken PS Do you know the @/lonelinesscorps@a.gup.pe group. (Remove the slash to make the handle work.) @vlrny just launched it. You will likely get some good replies if you tag that group in (if you wish).
@ShaulaEvans@Traiken
Oooo! Yes! This is exactly one of the things I was hoping the @lonelinesscorps group might help with. Both sharing online ways to connect as well as ideas for safe social stuff irl.
Pls feel more than welcome to use it! #covidCautious#lonely
@serenebabe It does, though I miss long, meandering, deep conversations with friends. But this place has definitely been better than Facebook or Twitter, for sure.
@noyes My general disdain for general humanity does nothing to ease the pain of missing the few people I do value--and it hurts the prospect of ever finding anyone else.
@PacificNic@autolycos@noyes When I was in high school, I'd lament being surrounded by idiots, and hate the world so much I wish it could just be wiped out.
@Traiken@niji_limbo I schedule Discord calls with friends. I know it sucks to do that, but it makes it something to look forward to. I have some friends I call weekly, some monthly, some rarer than that, but it does help a lot.
@osakajack I used to have occasional video chats with friends, but they all seem too busy or preoccupied to even text most of the time, now. Some have very young kids so I can begrudge them that, but it still sucks. It's like once they moved on and thought it was safe to go out again, the idea of video chatting wasn't an imperative anymore.
@Traiken 🌶️ It helps to combine hope and pessimism.
The pessimism is self explanatory. They're not gonna learn. They're not gonna welcome you back. All they want is your unconditional surrender to their meme'd normality. All while their health declines far too swiftly to be natural. And they call you crazy for not joining them.
The hope, though…
One of the reasons we're in this situation is that the ruling class demands it. They'd gotten it into their head that they can let this thing rip, shelter themselves from it, and avoid suffering the consequences. That the disposables are plentiful enough that they won't run out. They've yet to realize that not only is it unsustainable, but that we're very close to the edge. As they're wont to do, they'll cut it close. But… as the plague continues to touch the ruling class, and seriously harm those with delusions of immortality, they'll begin putting more effort into stopping the carnage.
The other hope would be in further medical breakthroughs. Sterilizing vaccines, maybe. Far-UVC (though this one is very doubtful). My bet is on a prophylactic once-daily anticoronaviral pill that everyone will start taking, in silence, as a way to acknowledge reality without needing to face the social consequences of acknowledging reality. Or maybe they'll just put it in the fucking water.
But my point is, it's easier to accept this when you stop expecting that a solution is imminent. It might never even happen. The fact is, 2019 is over, and so is 2020. We're in a new kind of apocalypse, where one of the fundamental pillars of society has now vanished. It's imperative that we act like it.
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