Seeking Serotonin

Trigger warning: Politics.

I don’t even know where to begin with this post, or whether I should even bother writing it. I’ve been mulling for a few days. The things I’ve been seeing on the news have left me angry, sad, disappointed, and more than a little embarrassed.

Storming the capitol in order to overturn a fair, democratic election result you don’t agree with? Those aren’t the actions of patriots. Protest all you like, express your freedom of speech as is your right, but this? This isn’t freedom of speech. I find it disgusting that the folks claiming to be patriots, the folks who post things like “Blue lives matter” on social media, were the same ones who were okay with bludgeoning an officer until he crumpled to the floor, and then walking over him! He was crushed to death before his murderers gleefully posed for pictures, selfies, and gave interviews about how this was such a great day for Americans. How is this patriotic? I just can’t see it.

Gaming, Walking my dog, cleaning, painting, playing with the 3D printer, taking pictures of dolls, and chatting with M about various hobbies we share are all wonderful, welcomed distractions. That, coupled with the fact that my lights on my Christmas tree clearly trigger the release of Serotonin (the hormone that promotes happy feelings), are pretty much the only things keeping me steady at the moment. Yes, my tree is still up and, if things keep going the way they are, it may be there through to Valentines Day.

The tree stays.
The doll poses.
The distractions continue.

I’m painfully aware just how much I sound like Buffalo Bill right now. I assure you neither the people around me (I’m quarantining with my hubby), my dog, my doll, nor my tree, are in any danger from me. My emotional wobbles mostly involve a lot of crying, obsessive anger cleaning, and withdrawing into my favorite books.

I was really hoping 2021 would be a relief after 2020, but so far it has failed to impress. You know what, though? It’s not the year that’s failed, it’s us. It’s people. It’s up to each of us to do better, and some have more to make up for than others.

I hope you’re able to find something that spikes your happy during these chaotic times.

For those unhappy that I’m expressing my opinions here on my blog, where I wasn’t before: After Twitter decided to give me the 12-hour-ban, I decided that I wasn’t going to limit expressing myself to a single platform, it gave them too much power over me. So, I’m going to be talking about things that may make people uncomfortable, but I’ll try to remember to post Trigger Warnings at the start of these types of posts so you can avoid them if you like. I’ve asked the other two folks who are able to write posts of their own to please do the same. Thank you for understanding.