A Great Fall
When I offhandedly told my friend that playing Persona 3 was all the more relatable in 2025 than in 2007, it was not a challenge for the world to make it even truer. Yet, the monkey's paw did curl and curled hard. Said friend described the atmosphere of this past year (and especially this past couple months) as being "despair-inducing", a designation I find hard to dispel.
In the manner akin of old times Hanna-Barbera's cartoon dominoes come tumbling down but way less amusing, everyone seems to be losing their marbles at the same time. The dismantling of a support system in a network is destructively cascading, and the aftermath immensely suffocating for everyone involved. It is apparently difficult to keep up an optimistic outlook and a cheerful facade when everyone around is besieged with mental overwhelm. It is also difficult to maintain your sanity when you feel like you're torn to shreds by a pack of wolves from all directions.
Many of my friends reported that they lost almost everyone they could talk to, some of them resorted to pinging their friend lists in hope to find That One Sane Person left. That One Sane Person is probably also struggling and don't know who else to reach out to.
In the meantime, I received the sweetest mail from Juni, a fellow bearblogger. Thank you, Juni. You might be wondering why you haven't heard a reply. I would, in due time, and the notion of penpalling is compelling. I haven't got one since high school. However, I would like to focus on my inner circles from time being as they all need support systems, and I don't think I am able to keep up with more relationship. The voices in my head are lulling me into sticking my head in the sand, or at least impersonate a frightened hedgehog. Curling into a ball will not help me avoid being an emotional pin cushion, sadly.
With my place freshly cleaned up, it's time to crack open a new sketchbook to tide me over until the veil of madness is lifted. It was fortunate of me to have procured all my arts and crafts supplies before our currency weakened so sharply, as I would not be able to afford them again today.
Fingers crossed the sky will clear up eventually, and hopefully before all the king's horses and all the king's men give up trying. I'd like to make more pen pals in that better world.