Sacred, Depression and Bridgerton

Almost two weeks ago, the Capitol was invaded by people who were sore that their candidate lost the election. A Confederate flag was carried in the building. (Gentle reminder to the South: y'all lost the Civil War.)

This uprising generated a lot of feelings in me, the main one is how I view the Capitol and democracy as sacred. I have been to Washington, D.C, many times, including to advocate for better mental health laws. I've visited Congress members and Senators, both Democrats and Republicans. I've taken my kids to the state capitol in Olympia to advocate for education funding. I've run for office, and I've lost.

Democracy is a gentleman's and gentlewoman's game. If you lose, you take a bow and step down. The point of democracy is peaceful transition of power. It is even unseemly to pout (though many do) when we lose.

Last week I was feeling a little depressed, as you may recall. A week ago Friday, I spent two hours crying. (Okay -- that is probably more than a little depressed.) There were lots of reasons to cry, internal and external. Yesterday, I heard a Ted Talk by Johann Hari on depression. He is a journalist who has suffered from depression, not a doctor. He wondered why depression and anxiety has been increasing across the globe for the past few decades, and he decided to travel the world to see how other cultures "cure" depression. (He also wrote a book, which I am curious to read.)

Long story short--one of the main causes he sees of depression is unmet needs. We are sad because something in our lives is missing, and our depression is signal. Often when we are sad, we are too close to the situation to see our own sadness objectively, and then can't get out of our misery by ourselves. In some cases, drugs are needed to get out of misery, but in many cases, we need to change our miserable situation. It is an interesting thought. I thought about the Boy when I heard this podcast. What needs of his were not being met? Are they being met now? Is he capable of listening to the signal of his anxiety and depression? What it is telling him?

What have been done to feel better, to get my needs met? I needed some fun. Since I can go to parties or restaurants or anything, I checked out Bridgerton and Netflix and went to parties vicariously. The show is perfect fluff and is delightfully entertaining, which is better than stewing in my own juices.