Ben ChaseOct 1, 2023
Merlin Mann

Some folks I like a lot seem a little stuck in “orange cheeto” mode which is obviously their own journey, but consider:

Even if you’re not ready to act in the absence of anger, you always have the option to stop experiencing your same shitty emotion in the same tedious way for, say, eight years. Because it’s probably eating you a little.

Maybe tweaking that could be a new and more creative part of one’s journey, hmm?

(Not you. But other people.)

Sep 28, 2023 at 9:47pmIvory for iOS
Show threadMatt BoehmSep 28, 2023
@hotdogsladies
That's really wise. You should write that down somewhere.
Show threadMerlin MannSep 28, 2023
@bigolewannabe I should definitely write that down!
Show threadNora Neurosismancer ✅Sep 28, 2023
@hotdogsladies definitely me. this is shit I’ve been working on in therapy for a while now.
Show threadMerlin MannSep 29, 2023
@sanspoint Oh. Friend. There’s a reason this is now a cause for me.
Show threadGlyphSep 29, 2023
@hotdogsladies The struggle is eternal. Every day, I think it would be more fulfilling, more productive and healthier to spend as much time as possible thinking about and working on other things (even other political things). But, also, every day I cannot help but *also* think that the orange man is, in fact, *quite* bad! In ways which continue to cause real harm. It would help if this opinion weren’t so controversial! But then, if it weren’t controversial then his badness would be irrelevant.
Show threadMerlin MannSep 29, 2023

@glyph I mean. Do you imagine I disagree? Come on.

But anger alone can become very addictive.

And unless it’s helping with something like, this week, it’s probably not something we want always running the show.

Show threadGlyphSep 29, 2023

@hotdogsladies I was for sure assuming agreement; was attempting a “yes, and” there, perhaps somewhat clumsily. Just describing my own wrestling with this particular demon.

To put it differently: the rage is never useful to me directly. *Actions* can be useful; anger can prompt action. So I interrogate the rage whenever it shows up, to see if it’s telling me about something to *do*, or it’s just telling me to feel good about myself for being miserable but miserable about the correct thing.