I have no idea what I'm going to write about so sit down and buckle up this one will either get wild or bluster out into nothing. I'm tired. Not really physically tired but emotionally, mentally, and spiritually drained. Time, as they say, keeps slipping into the future and more and more I feel like I just can't keep up anymore. It's not the tech, I can stay on top of that, it's not the politics ... though I have to admit I look at the state of things, and I wonder how we let it get to this. Wait, no, I know the answer to that ... we never taught people how to think for themselves. In fact, in many cases we taught them that such thought was bad.
No, we didn't directly set it out in those words, but it's basically what we told people. We certainly haven't set up an education system that taught critical thinking, or even in more recent year's comprehension. We've focused on taking tests and memorizing facts. I was reading an article the other day about college professors that were distraught and the lack of reading ability in the youth coming into college. Stating that they were finding more and more that it wasn't just that the kids didn't read the assigned writing, they actually couldn't read it and get anything out of it. They were finding that comprehension was low overall, but the longer the reading assignment, the less the students comprehended or retained. And the more complex or abstract the subject the worse things were. They largely blame this latest issue with college students on the test / fact-based focus present in schools. The students haven't had to read and comprehend because they were told what they needed to memorize. Now as they move into the adult part of their lives they are struggling with aspects of life that they weren't prepared for.
And not to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but that is pretty much exactly what the system was designed to do. Even back in the 80s and 90s the system was failing to teach people how to think. Because it never wanted that learned. The system was always set up to make good workers, not good thinkers, not creative people. Yes, some of those always come out. Yes, we had art classes, band, etc. ... but those were always underfunded and to be honest they didn't teach creativity even there ... they taught process, they taught form, yes, but not creation, not inspiration, not passion. Because passionate, creative, thoughtful people that consider and comprehend, are harder to lead, are harder to deceive, distract, and direct. But this, I believe has been covered here before.
But let's be fair, how we got here doesn't matter, the past is written, it's done, we can't change it. We can try to re-write it, we can try to pretend things happened differently than they did, but that doesn't usually hold up forever, and those that do it are rarely seen as the good guys. In fact it often makes them look worse for trying to cover it up or smooth it over. We need to understand the past, know what was done, yes, but we can not dwell on it, we can not fall into wishing we had done things differently. What we can do, what we MUST do, is learn from those mistakes and choose to do better going forward. The greatest power we have is choice, and every day, every moment, we can choose to be better than we were ...
I didn't start this ramble to talk about it, but I've been in a deep depression lately. In the velvet fog of 'what's the point' and 'why bother'. It's something that I think we all struggle with from time to time, some days are fine, others, like the last couple of weeks, feel like there's no light at the end of the tunnel, or if there is, it's a train, something else coming to knock us back down. The state of the world around me was part of that, working nights, stressed out, and rarely getting true social interaction weighing me down. Next weekend brings another round of Daylight Savings to us, and we get to "Spring Forward" an event every year that leaves thousands, or likely even millions, of people in that darkness. Many don't come out of it. But I've taken an oath ... an oath to get help if I need it, and an oath to help others if they need it.
Depression and mental health are at the heart of a book series I've been reading, The Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson. It is not light reading, but beautifully detailed, deep characters, in an incredible setting. And that theme of choice is very central to the narrative. Much of it builds and expands, sayings that seem simple, become more meaningful as you look at them more closely. The first oath of the Knights Radiant ... Life before Death, Strength before Weakness, Journey before Destination ... is about choice ... Choose Life before Death, Choose Strength before Weakness, Choose the Journey over the destination. But it's more than that too, choose to be better today than you were yesterday, it is not the destination that matters, it's what you learn on the journey ... it's what you learn from your life, it is about the life you live.
Out of working on the Stormlight Archives, Brandon Sanderson also started something to try and help those struggling with mental health and depression. He created the Next Step coin if you, or someone close to you struggles with depression or other mental health issues and are at risk, the coin is free on the Dragonsteel Books website (Next Step Coin) ... If you just want to buy a cool coin it's $20 and the proceeds go to helping fund mental health support lines and services. Seriously though check in on your friends, your family, and those around you, particularly after the time change on Sunday, it's often a rough time for people, and someone struggling to start with might find themselves overwhelmed. In the world as it stands today, it's not a wonder if they do.
And if YOU are struggling, reach out to a friend, or call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and speak with a trained counselor. You are worthy, and you will be warm again, the most important step is always the next one.
