…the solution to LJ woes is to just scroll down, but sometimes it’s very hard. I’ve been poking around in various corners of LJ, reading through and and I’ve been distressed by the vitriol I encounter, the deep wounds, the sterness, the lack of empathy. I see a lot of analogies to situations I’ve lived through before groups of people trying to improve things for each other, friends calling each other out, individuals trapped in painful experiences with no way to move beyond them. But typing seems to amplify the emotional gaps between people. We can read what’s on the screen, but often we can’t read beyond that.

Witnessing those situations triggers my feelings for those involved, but makes it hard for me to remain optimistic about the future. And despite the sometimes dark tone of this journal, I am fundamentally an optimist, I believe that this world, this life, the only one we can be sure of experiencing, is abundant and thrilling, stuffed with delights of the senses and conciousness, and that everyone born has a right and a capacity to experience them. The times I grow sad is when I see what I think is people denying that right to others or to themselves.

(edit: here’s the horoscope (meaningless, I know!) that greeted me on my earthlink startpage today:Turn off the TV and put down the newspaper. Look around you, dear Aquarius. Realize that real life is infinitely more interesting than the daytime programming on your local broadcast channel. If you don’t find that you are being amused by the life you lead, don’t escape into someone else’s world. Create your own excitement. No one is going to hand you your lines. You have to write the script yourself. Have fun with it.)