Divesting from Doom
Changing the Stories We Tell Ourselves May Actually Change Reality
Just last month I wrote about how the “vibe” seemed to be shifting toward something more positive — partly because Biden had stepped down, freeing us of 20th-Century-style leadership once and for all, but also simply as a widespread feeling of lightness and possibility. Now, at least according to some friends I’ve been running into this week, it feels as if the vibe is shifting back.
In AA they call it the “pink cloud.” Once you detox from your addiction, you get really high off that feeling of liberation for days or weeks. It’s all good. Then, reality sets in and the hard work of being a person in recovery sets in. You have to contend with all those reasons you got addicted in the first place. As if on cue, Labor Day marked our transition from the summer of elation to the hard work ahead. More bloodshed in the Middle East, more bad climate news, more school shootings, and a nationally divisive political season before us.
For me, that vibe shift back to awfulness came when I checked out what was happening on X/Twitter for the first time in many months. Some friends of mine had organized one of those “dudes for Kamala” groups, and got their account suspended from X/Twitter just when they were announcing their Zoom call. No reason. I had learned they…
