Are You Okay?
It's a rhetorical question.
Photo: Me
So? Are you okay?
The agita in the ether is pervasive and overwhelming. Four years ago, I wrote a handy dandy service piece about the double-fisted travesty of the 2020 election and coronavirus, complete with takeaways, for The Today Show website. The path to pausing your mental anguish was finding comfort in the mindfulness of the unplugged mundane, or doing things with your mind or body that didn’t give either access to any source of pervasive gloom and doom.
Wildly, according to the American Psychological Association, 69% of American adults are feeling it now as opposed to the 68% of Americans who felt it in 2020. Really? Just one more percent? It makes more sense when you consider how the study revealed, this go round, 77% of Americans are worried about the future of the nation itself. Yikes on bikes.
If you read this week’s Sunday Shit Talk you know that even a walk around my bucolic block, as gorgeous as it is with all the fall leaves, can even be something of a minefield.
So where’s a bitch go to get a psychological break? In the continued spirit of service journalism, I’ll show you. Mind you, it’s Scorpio season, so these suggestions run between light and dark. Tread lightly into shrouded corners at your own discretion.
In his own words, Blakely has been “judging white women since 1985.” His daily pontifications on trends and travesties are hilarious.
Call Your Daddy interview with Courtney Stodden
Alex Cooper’s Call Your Daddy podcast is as hot as it gets. As I wrote the morning it came out, she got the get of interviewing Kamala Harris but did you know she just did a gut-wrenching interview with Courtney Stodden? Remember Courtney? The 16-year-old we all watched marry a 51-year-old pedophile in 2011 without yanking her into child services? Now 27 and divorced, Courtney gets deep into her journey as a survivor with Alex and it was darkly painful, fascinating, deep reminder why women need to band together to advocate for each other. It’s not a convo for the faint of heart, so trigger warnings galore.
Podcrushed interview with Tyler Henry
I just love Podcrushed. Hosts Penn Badgley (You, Gossip Girl), and former middle school teacher/administrators Nava Kavelin and Sophie Ansari interview their guests using their 12-year-old selves as a springboard, and it’s a genius foray into the psyche. This past week, they had super medium Tyler Henry on as a guest and I found his views and understanding of life and the afterlife compelling and comforting.
The Real Housewives of New York
HAH! You didn’t think I was going just be deep, did you?
The internet is anti but I look forward to Tuesdays because RHONY 2.0 is giving me everything I need right now in terms of a mental siesta. This group of gals and their petty ish has been an emotional CPAP machine. Jenna Fucking Lyons telling everyone about her relationship with latex will give you a taste of all there is to enjoy.
Remember how I said New Yorkers weren’t big on advertising their opinions? Well, I must make note of a notable exception.
None other than SJP herself took to her window, and Instagram, to state her case.
She wrote:
“For the love of my country
For our public schools
For books
For common sense gun laws
For a living wage
For opportunity
For women
For voting rights
For the Dreamers
For arts and culture
For my mother and senior citizens
For our military, past and currently serving
For the climate
For hope
For friends and loved ones in the LGBTQ+ community
For freedom
For science
For affordable healthcare
For our union members
For democracy
For my daughters
For my son
For all of our children
For equality
For dignity
For hope
For the constitution
For me
For love
For choice
And for a certain childless cat lady I play on TV
With an abundance of joy, optimism and pride
I am voting for Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz”
Well put, SJP. She’s preaching to the choir and her stance is no surprise, but the sheer turnout of people dedicated to fighting the good fight gives me comfort. We have to fight our hardest and take solace where we can get it.
Reach out to the people you love. Also, reach out to people you just like. Check in. Connect. Take their emotional temperature and ask them to take yours. It’ll make you both feel better. After all, humanity and humility are the strongest barriers against the bloviating bullshitters hell-bent on razing them.
xo
MF
delightful.
Re: SJP placard. Great photo, but practically speaking, only the people in her living room would see it. Those things aren't double-sided. I know, I know, but that kind of shit bothers me.