[AtlasBarfed]

When my mother died I went out that day to walk, eat lunch, and keep my head straight.

It was surreal. It was like everyone was walking around in a dreamstate, unaware they would die, of the mortality of life. I'll never forget that sensation, how everyday life and consumption and entertainment and routine lull you, distract you, from the inevitabilities of life.

COVID was a fundamental disruption to life. ALmost a million Americans are dead. Not a lot by historical standards of plague, but still... a threat. And now the cold war rears its head and nuclear armageddon.

As I offhanded remarked once in a bathroom in bar that for some reason had an attendant who was discussing moving apartments, "Ah, moving is a time for reflection".

And that has been what the last couple years has been: times for reflection. A collective illusion shattered, or at least disrupted.

[tsol]

It's funny though, you can't make people realize this. If I and to you a week prior and yelled "you're going to die, you're a mortal and life is fleeting!" you'd just look at me like I'm crazy and go back to work. It seems like people can't get to that point until they've worked themselves tired, and earned a bit of money.