Is it possible to mantain sanity in an insane world?

Yes, but it might involve digging a very large hole.

An inescapable aspect of being human is trying to parse your subjective existence with the outside world. Should you give a shit about gravity, Chinese millitary exercises or just blissfully ignore the outisde world and think about what to eat for lunch?

There are a lot of things about the way the world works which are counter intuitive. That good people do bad things, visa versa. Heros become villains, Diddys become diddlers, and the Nazis made a lot of useful contributions to science. In short, the totality of the human experience: madness, joy, sadness, etc. should all be “expected.”

The only real sanity power we have is to just personally not subscribe to the bullshit. The narrow space between stimulus and response is the only sliver of “free will” that actually exists. Your free will can’t stop somebody from punching your grandma in the face. Your free will could only affect how you choose to react to the situation, not the emotions that are stirred up or your “thoughts” on society.

There is nothing you can do to affect the level of panic and chaos of the world short of not contribute to it. Crying about how things are going to hell in a handbasket will not make you feel better, it will not help anything and it will just bum out everyone around you.

It’s like going to a bad restaurant. Walking in you get the feeling that you don’t trust the food, there’s something oozing “frozen greasy bullshit” and yet you sit down and willingly order, then willingly eat and are somehow surprised that exactly what you knew was going to happened happened.

Adobe AI depiction of “a depressing restaurant serving cheap, greasy bad food”, including some strips of yellow paper on the plate?

Life can look bleak if you pay attention to the news: stagflation, vibecession, covid, world war, tiktok. All of which may suck in their own way but who’s forcing you to bum yourself out thinking about that shit? YOU ARE! Your remote control has batteries, nobody’s forcing you to consume information that makes you unhappy, not yet at least.

Here’s one practical solution: PUT THE CRACK PIPE DOWN! For just a moment put down the phone, turn the fucking TV off. Delete the fucking apps. Sign out of god damn social media. Be afraid of these devices like they’re people trying to kill you.

A still from “Terminate the Pain” my AI generated R&B Love song based on The Terminator.

Don’t fall for the “illusion” of wellness. “Oh it’s not that phones are bad, you just need to … use CALM app!” People trying to meditate and use productivity apps on their phone are like trying to eat an apple sprinkled in heroin powder.

Stop giving a fuck about the news, other people, anyone, anywhere, at all! Trust me it’s not going anywhere, you will never escape these things you’re worrying about anyway so at least for fucks sake just stop WILLINGLY thinking about them!

Purpose doesn’t have to be some soul defining characteristic. You can just try shit and not care. If you are a lost tired miserable person just pick SOMETHING to give a shit about. IE: Go dig a hole.

Nothing keeps you in the present moment more than digging a giant hole.

You could go grab a shovel and start digging until sundown, fall asleep in an exhausted stupor and then get right back at it until you’ve dug your way out of depression, obesity and lack of purpose.

If you’re unwilling to do what seems undoable then you’ll never be able to escape what seems inescapable.

“Oh woe is me the world sucks!”

“How come?”

“Oh I’m so unhappy, republicans, abortions, israel!”

“Do you want to come dig this hole with me for the next few weeks?”

“OK.”

End of story. Happiness achieved. Start digging!

AI seems to agree that hole digging is fun for people of all shapes and sizes!