To hear Bodine read this essay, click here:
Once upon a time, actually many times, everyone was scared. Maybe they had cause to be, or they worried some day they might have cause, or the worry was for others. People wanted things back to normal, to the real life they were used to. But they didn't live in that world anymore.
I understand wanting to shut down. But this is a time of big lives and great purpose, and shutting down means the fear gets trapped in there with you.
Here's what I do when I feel hopeless. I look around, first of all, to see if there's anything good anywhere. And I appreciate it, which means a moment of silence to think, wow, I'm glad this exists, just for as long as it takes me to have that thought. The second thing I do is to notice something that sucks—always easier to find—and I consider how much worse it could be. Small relief, but that's enough to dig me out of wherever I've gotten stuck. Then the third thing is to take action on whatever's in front of me. Worrying can satisfy the part of my brain that wants to take action. Or I can give it a big project.
The project carrying me through this moment is called Bo-Rev. It's this monthly substack about how to face the future, plus a podcast of calm anthology science fiction, like Black Mirror but relaxing. There are no ads, and I'll never use AI to write or read it.
The first episode of the podcast is a sci-fi fable with two cats dreaming of space. You can listen now: Spotify | Apple | YouTube | Bandcamp
In this substack, I'm just going to say what I most believe to be true. Which is what an unbelievable miracle to be alive. This game we're all playing, a human body for a lifespan, no rules or way to win. All because the soul is here for experience, and it is not afraid to suffer. The way to face the future is by enjoying your time here, and that takes spending some of every day on what feels meaningful to you. Doing something that makes you proud of yourself is a reliable way into a great life, no matter what's going on around you.
Nothing is all bad, including the future. It's hard to picture things we'll gain, since the world is changing so fast. Easy to fixate on what we might lose. But the way we build a new future, something to hold all of us in safety, is in how we stay awake and lean forward right now. We vote for the life ahead of us with each decision, word, and act. Why not make every moment that passes in front of you better for doing so.
There's no time coming up that actually counts, it's now. It's always right now. You can start anything, change anything, right now.
This is a hard level but we're still in the game. Keep playing.