So-called depression is the result of not having any hope for a future worth aspiring to. Part of the reason that things like “depression” are not part of your reality when you are in a war zone, is because you are focused on not getting killed from moment to moment. Concentrating on living another hour when you are being shot at, suddenly focuses the mind really well and leaves no room for depressing thoughts about the distant future. Or even just tomorrow.
But when your days begin to resemble an endless dreary tunnel that you are certain never changes, and never can change, until the day you die, or at least to whatever horizon you can see, THAT is when suicide begins to feel attractive.
Now, since the end of 2019, we have been mired in total fear, atomisation (loneliness) desperation, financial terror, relationship anxieties, and a CONSTANT stream of death, war, financial collapse, and above all: injustice , the pedovores being in charge and getting away with everything and laughing at you for it, that the hope of a bright future, some kind of state where virtues prevail and evil is defeated, has become, realistically impossible to feel, see, or even imagine.
And it permeates every aspect of life. Your days are grey. Your emotions are flat. There is little to no hope of any kind of reprieve from this constant state of limbo.
Even films are not an escape any more.
It’s why people also don’t read books anymore. I genuinely think my own trilogy omnibus Nazi Moon is one of the very few SF books left that DOES have that sense of the optimism, of adventure, and of possibilities even against a pretty grim state of affairs or possible future.
And based on the feedback I had from people who are extremely brutal and certainly not prone to false praise (my actual friends) I think it’s not just my opinion. I have consistently been told things like “It’s so massive I never thought I’d finish it, but I couldn’t put it down!”
Or “I don’t even remember when I last read a full book, never mind three in a row, which is what this is! And it got in the way of work! Every day I was wanting to get back to it. I read the whole thing in only a few days.”
While I would like to think it’s because I am, of course, a brilliant writer (what?! False modesty is not a virtue, you know!) I believe a lot of it has to do with the fact that the entire storyline is in essence one that has possibilities. As dark as any of the situations that the characters in the book might face, there is always some kind of hope and action towards “better” and “good” that is possible or at least tried and “there” to be reached for.
But in today’s world… where do you even see or feel that?
The last series of three posts or so I focused, as I often do, on the practical aspects of survival, improvement, rebuilding… but that is because, constitutionally, I have always been incapable of giving up.
I don’t even think it was something I learnt. Certainly doing martial arts from a young age, learning so many different skills, moving around the world so much, learning to navigate different cultures and languages all helped, but even as a small child, when frankly, my day to day existence was really rather bleak, the thought of just NOT doing never entered my head. It’s not as if I didn’t have long periods of what basically is hopelessness in my life. In fact I had many. But… I just don’t know how to lie down and stop. I will get up and carry on. Even without a purpose, I seem unable to stay down.
I also realise this is not the usual condition for most people, and everyone, including me, can benefit greatly from having a compelling future. I think the main difference between me and most people is two things:
- I am willing to work tirelessly towards a future that is very far away, which I put down to staying power, or maybe willpower, hard-headedness, resilience, call it what you want, but it is NOT blind stubbornness. It is genuinely an ability to see the real possibilities further out than almost everyone I have ever met. Distant possibilities are not the same as impossible ones. Unlikely ones inevitably become more likely with concentrated effort. For example, it has been a goal to make my living only from writing. One I first had at age 26. Unfortunately, life events got in the way of that for about 30 years, so I have only started and stopped one book at a time here and there. Making a concerted effort to be a full time writer has to contend with my feeding my rather large family on a daily basis not to mention all the other issues that need taking care of. Nevertheless, I will continue to write. Maybe I’ll make it one day before I drop dead, maybe not. Maybe after I’m dead can also happen. But I am not deluded about the odds. There are more professional baseball players that make a living at their sport than there are professional writers that do so. And I’m also anti-woke, anti-dystopia, and anti-Talmudians, so my chances for global acceptance and wild success are close to zero. But does it stop me? Or even slow me down? Nope.
- I am willing to BUILD that future myself. From scratch if need be. As basically I am actually doing.
So: I would suggest you either take on those two attributes, or join or help someone that has them and is trying to build an actually compelling future not just for themselves, but in general for everyone else too.
And by the way, reality is NOT as confined, small, limited and hopeless as you are being told 24/7 that it is.
It just isn’t.
And the first thing YOU need to do is stop thinking, believing and feeling it is. The future, quite literally, is what YOU make it.
I don’t know your specific circumstances nor what horrible shit you are dealing with. I am sure it’s a lot. It always is. For everyone.
But the answer is not to give up, lie down and die. It’s to get up, imagine something good, and go after it. And keep going after it.
And you know what makes it easier?
Other people.
Look, if you read here regularly you KNOW I am NOT a fan of humans, but it’s still the case you need meaningful relationships and a compelling future to feel good.
Don’t have any friends? Make some. Don’t know how? Learn .
Have a purpose. Make one up. You can literally pick your own. Don’t worry about how “realistic” it is. Start planning and taking active steps to make it a reality.
And keep at it.
Besides, as I hope you will realise from my next post, later today, life really is FAR more interesting, unbelievable and exciting than you imagine. Prepare to have your mind actually blown.
This post was originally published on my Substack. Link here
