How to Stay Sane Living in a Dystopia

How to Stay Sane Living in a Dystopia

It is November 22, 2022, and today is the day I have decided to accept that we live in a Dystopia. And with that comes a certain feeling of freedom and happiness that I did not expect.

1. A dystopia is an imagined state or society with great suffering or injustice, typically totalitarian or post-apocalyptic.

I love dystopian literature. Some of my favorite books are dystopian, including 1984, Brave New World, and The Hunger Games. I also love dystopian television. I have seen every episode of Black Mirror, The Colony (which ended far too soon), and other random shows you have never seen. And don't get me started on movies, Don't Look Up, Moonfall, and Mother, to name a few.

When the coronavirus pandemic started, I pretended to be the main character in I am Legend. It helped me get through moments that otherwise would have made life very difficult.

Saying that we are living in a dystopia isn't a radical idea, and many others have already gotten to this point, but there has been a block in me that I did not understand. And I realize now that there was an unresolved struggle within me. Many people suffering from writer's block or procrastination have a similar issue.

My struggle was my desire to speak out about injustice while at the same time not becoming a haven for negativity.

I did not want to be a downer, but this morning as I was easing myself into my day, I got a tweet from @SN_woodhouse on Twitter that stated, "It's a postmodern dystopian mess" in response to the fact that Elon Musk is constantly at the top of Twitter now.

(My Twitter is @hoard_javan)

Which resonated with me in a way that is difficult to explain. I am not sure if it is because it is early in the morning or if I was just hungry for truth, but the way she just "said it" caused me to re-evaluate my thoughts.

I asked myself, "In what type of society would the concept of a "downer" make the most sense?"

If society is perfect and nothing needs to change, a downer would be someone constantly pointing out "non-existent" problems.

But the problems I am pointing out are not non-existent. Yesterday, I had a viral post on TikTok that you can find here.

https://www.tiktok.com/@thesituationaltherapist/video/7168571876678061355

This post discusses how I used to want a diagnosis so badly, and I desperately wanted to be told by the system that I was broken in the same way it had conditioned me to feel. One of the ways in which that conditioning is done is through our standard system maintaining greeting.

You know the one. Where you ask someone, "How are you doing" and they say "I'm fine and you" and then you say "I'm fine" and we go on about our day.

Imagine what would happen if people answered that question truthfully. If we shared, if just briefly, how we felt in the moment in honesty and in truth.

Instead, if you tell the truth, "I am honestly struggling today", you get some version of "I didn't ask all of that, maybe you're depressed, you should go see a therapist". If your truth makes them uncomfortable, they might even report you to the authorities because they are "concerned about you". This, honestly, is a perfect example of projection, but we will discuss that at a later date.

Now in a society that isn't dystopian, someone saying, "I am struggling today," would absolutely be a downer. How can you be struggling? All of your basic needs are met with universal income.

If you become sick, you can go get free healthcare and you work a job of your own choosing, not for any reason other than the fact that you like it.

We have a society that has severely reduced the amount of unnecessary suffering, and the systems we have in place are working to eliminate even that. And even though there is suffering, it is nothing like what they had to go through in the year 2022.

In a dystopian society, however, one that seeks to conceal the suffering that sustains it, saying "I am struggling today." would be an act of rebellion!

It would be a middle finger to the social convention that states, "It is just a greeting and you aren't to answer truthfully." Why would I want to be in a society of people that lie?

At the same time, rage quitting is not prohibited in the practice. I can be the change I want to see by not participating in the lie.

I was inspired by @paislen, who read my post yesterday and discussed how she had felt similarly. I asked what she did to take small steps at changing the system and she wrote "Educate other people if they seemed interested in the topics. Go to meetup groups that are about said topics. Cleaning up trash I see. I used to volunteer a lot, so I definitely want to do that again."

I often do many nice things for people behind the scenes. There are times when I have gone to ATM's, given tips that are well about 30% and carried people's groceries up hills. It is difficult to feel like that matters though when no one knows, but therein is the solution because someone does know. The person that I helped.

@Saki mirrors this sentiment with I just try to focus on what I can touch and following what I think is right in the moment. I'd like a do something rather than nothing at all in such a nuanced world. Both are pretty tiring in a way to me but I feel like at least I'm "gathering data" when I try to "help" others.

So how do you survive in a dystopia? Well, I know that many things are unnecessarily complicated because people like to pad out their writing, but there are very simple things that you can do. Today we are going to focus on doing the bare minimum.

Do the bare minimum

Please stop pushing yourself past your limit for a system that doesn't care about you. My supervisor used to say the squeaky wheel gets oil and sometimes gets replaced.

And I would also add that the wheel that works perfectly bears most of the load. Now, your definition of "bare minimum" should be based on what you are willing to accept as a person.

For example, my new bare minimum is one post a day on Monday - Friday. That is the absolute least I can do to say I am doing something. Okay, so that isn't true. The least I can do has no bounds, but it is the least I can do and feel comfortable in the community I am building. C's get degrees. Do the bare minimum as defined by you.

Because in relationship to a dystopian society, the bare minimum is actually excellence. The fact that you are doing anything at all (especially as it related to fighting the system) is pretty damn cool.

What is going to be your bare minimum?

Additionally, sometimes go over it.  Which I am for my premium subscribers.  Thank you all so much.  All 72 of you!  It helps me feel safer in the world to know my work is supported.

As I start unraveling more and more systems, you can expect me to experience more and more pushback from the system.

Knowing that people are willing to support me financially should the system decide to take away my license is helpful.  I have provided an additional 17 minute video where I explain to you the 4 types of dystopias Phildickian, Orwellian, Huxleyan, and Kafkaesque as well as discuss which one I think we currently living in!

If you want to discuss this with me please post below and I will respond!

Have a great morning, and see you tomorrow!