Prisonculture: You don't have to take on all of the world's problems. This is impossible. But we can all do something useful. Find out what your useful thing is if you're not already doing something. It's enough.

You don't have to take on all of the world's problems. This is impossible. But we can all do something useful. Find out what your useful thing is if you're not already doing something. It's enough.

I notice people who think 'everything is overwhelming so I can't do anything.' That's exactly the wrong posture imo. It's 'everything is overwhelming, let me concentrate on what I can actually do.'

It also helps, or has helped me, the overwhelming part. I feel less overwhelmed because I know I am doing the work I need to be doing.

I get in these states from anxiety and being OCD where the amount of steps that I can see need to be sorted gets me so overwhelmed that I do nothing. Then I get these moments of hypermotivation and structure where I get on top of it all. My whole life I've just been cycling between these two states.

I know you're probably talking about things on a grander scale, but I feel like it's the same. People accomplish massive undertakings, then get complacent as things seem to be good but are also rapidly deteriorating to where they're almost worse. Get overwhelmed, then hit rock bottom, rinse repeat.

This is exactly what I did to get over some of my analysis paralysis. Find the thing I felt needed the most attention in something I was passionate about, and help where I can. I used to get very anxious about donating to charity because of that, now I focus on one cause I know needs it.

I keep reminding myself - if everything is awful, then choosing what to tackle doesn't matter as much as actually doing it. It doesn't always work but it breaks through some of the analysis paralysis.

Yeah, the real trick is that with social media its so easy to get hyperfocused on something totally outside your control. Like the situation in Ohio had me wigging out last night bad... but, I'm not in Ohio. All I can do is stress myself out over it. o_o;

Or "Everything is overwhelming, let me do one thing at a time from simplest to hardest, and see what pace and method works best for me." Which... I guess is the same thing, just worded differently. Lol

bsky.app/profile/genn...

I love this. I am going to make this a more targeted goal this year. Thank you for this more optimistic way of thinking.

Exactly right. And a lot of the organizations that most need help - like your local Democratic Party - have no capacity for volunteer management. Whatever your thing is, just show up and don’t be afraid to step in when you see a gap you think you can fill.

A lot of folks get stuck at the “I don’t know how to help” stage. There’s rarely someone available to give neat instructions or do onboarding. That’s why showing up is important. Get comfortable with the group. If it’s not a good fit, find a different one. Then, look for your opening and take it.

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