#fun keeps your mind sharp enough to grab a fire extinquisher

[littleapocalypsekitten]

In defence of silly matters...

So, I've been on the tumbles too much today and have had to get off of it after a while when it was making my head hurt... So, I wasn't into the Super Bowl today. I'm not much of a sports person, but I didn't even bother watching it for the commercials. It was all "Meh, none of our teams are playing and I'm not so big into either Usher or Swift." And, of course, it's not like the commercials cannot be seen later online. Instead, I was all "Ooh, Cartoon Network is running reruns of Adventure Time and Futurama!" and I was reading fanfictions that people had put up for a fanfiction challenge in one of my fandoms that I am a part of. But browsing tumblr.... just outrage-post-after-outrage post over the ongoing Gaza genocide and lots of "why aren't more people outraged at this?" "How dare Americans be distracted by a football game when this is going on?!" and... it's just... *Sigh.* News of the latest series of atrocities... definitely enough to cause compassion-fatigue and I do not *want* to stop caring. I want to continue doing what I can (which is not much, mostly complaining to people online and in real life. I wrote my senator, but while he's progressive on most issues, he's identical to the fiercest Republican on this one and has been known to taunt pro-Palestinian protesters. You've probably already guessed who he is, haven't you? Basically a progressive-traitor). My rep's a Republican (despite my personal vote) and isn't gonna do shit. And this is really the boat most of us are in. And I'm at a place where I simply cannot be aghast and outraged all the time, or it will overload my system. So, yes, I am going to turn away from the news and from people telling me to be aware and outraged at all times to watch a damn cartoon. And this is why I defend people watching and enjoying the Super Bowl. Maybe it's trendy to be ANGRY! THAT! AMERICANS! ARE! ALL! ABOUT! SPORTSBALL! when the Horrors are happening, but I think that maybe enjoying the sportsball and the musicians is just a thing that many people need right now. They can't really do anything, so cheer on a team, beer and snacks. I learned last year, before all of this happened, on a very personal level just how important distraction is just to keep you from losing your mind or laying down and dying: I lost someone very close to me last year to an unexpected, sudden death. A lot of what kept me going? Trigun: Stampede (a reboot of an anime that was pretty much my entire life in the 2000s. I have a fanblog for it now, fandom renewed), and acquiring The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and playing it every day for about two and one half solid MONTHS after I picked up my pre-order. I did these things while being heavily involved in memorial / funeral planning, a task I had never done before. My nephew's memory was a "more important" thing. Gathering his friends for a memorial service / party was a "more important" thing. Getting his last affairs in order was a "more important" thing. But enjoying a damn anime and a damn video game were also important. And so I don't condemn people for taking a frigging BREAK. We can always continue holding our leaders' feet to the fire and screaming out into the void about the utter injustice present in our world.... But we've also gotta self-care. (And yes, I get mad when I'm finding a boss-battle in a video game to be too hard. It doesn't mean I do not care about more serious matters in the world at the same time).

#super bowl 2024 #palestine #crisis overload #the need for distraction and ease #it is okay to have fun while the world is burning #fun keeps your mind sharp enough to grab a fire extinquisher #cw: grief #cw: death #cw: genocide