Narrowsburg, NY - you lookin good grrrrl…until I see a Trump sign -_-
I feel like a computer with that hour-glass that’s constantly flipping or that forever-spinning color wheel with no indication that the processing will stop. I feel like every day there is something else that I have to consume and make sense of before letting it settle into my memory bank of disappointment and exhaustion.
I’ve been thinking about the internet a lot lately. More specifically, I’ve been thinking about social media and how it’s been effective in so many different ways to connect, to divide, to provide hope and solace, or grief and anguish. It’s been on my mind more frequently with all of the time I’ve personally been spending on it, which is a tremendous amount in comparison to pre-pandemic. Of course, that is everyone. The uptick in live Instagram streams, the influx of folks on TikTok, the amount of tweets being published, we’re all figuring out how to cope with this new normal and heavily depending on a form of socializing that is safe and entertaining has given us comfort.
It’s a term I’ve heard more recently in the last few years to refer to ways people neatly package up their intense feelings or emotions away from the world in order to focus on tasks at hand and function somewhat “normally.” I heard it even more recently, today, in a discussion where it was brought up how we, as black women, have to compartmentalize during these incredibly stressful times in order to keep functioning. At first I felt proud of what that meant. It meant I was able to channel my emotions in a way that wouldn’t interfere with work and let them out when I had time and space to do so, be it on the weekends or taking time off. Then I thought about it deeper and it made me furious to think that is something to be proud of and even more so to be acceptable in society. Humans should NOT be compartmentalizing shit to keep working.
We live in a society that does a phenomenal job at making women feel their very existence is to serve and their emotions are a weakness. It’s not uncommon to hear the term “bitch” thrown around to denote men who get emotional or “don’t be a little bitch” tossed around to let someone know they’re not being cooperative enough. This blatantly sexist language weaves in and out of our daily lives and women put up with it constantly or speak up and befall unfair, harsh criticism. Even the most powerful women hear this language. Women of every generation hear this language. No woman is exempt.
I took this while hiking at Mt. Greylock. 10/10 Would recommend.
As the pandemic rages on and the American government continues to be willing arbiters of death, we are stuck here in this hellscape at the whim of megalomaniacs and narcissists. The unemployment rate climbing, jobs in jeopardy, and an ever-looming unknown settling over everything. In these doomsday-feeling times, it is so important to take care of ourselves and each other.
Hear me out. I’m no Eat, Pray, Love (Julia, wtf were you thinking?!) yoga mat pusher, but I am a huge advocate of taking care of your mental health. With the world being a raging dumpster fire with no immediate end in sight, it’s the one thing, if you can, have control over. Taking a breath and disconnecting for a little bit to recharge and be good to yourself, hell, SPOIL yourself.
