i think a good place to start is to remember that all people are well… people, and that the vast majority of humans find joy somewhere in their lives. it’s human nature and a survival mechanism and i mean of course it doesn’t mean that everyone is great or fine or whatever, thinking about it does help one to remember that the world is not a giant black hole of suffering.

i say this because, if you are an empathetic person (as it sounds like you are) then when you think about all the pain in the world it starts to seem bigger and bigger because there is so much of it, and it seems impossible that anything that is enough could ever be done, and the more you think about it the more it blocks the light out of everything you see. and it’s hard to reconcile *not* thinking about it because it only seems fair, right? except while you’re held down by the weight of the world’s suffering, people are living and dying with yes, often a disproportionate amount of pain in their lives, and too little joy, but you’re both missing out on joy and missing out on bringing joy to others, aka helping.

and i see this kind of thought pattern in your message, here. ‘cause i mean, a part of me wants to say.. i don’t know! i don’t know how i keep from sinking into a deep depression, now that you mention it. wow, you’re right, things are horrible, for women, for so many people in so many ways, and.. it’s that tempting, to think that way. but it doesn’t help. 

what does help, is realizing that really small things can help. ‘cause i mean like, anything you do that’s not nothing is worth something, right? and it’s better than nothing. and if you’re paralyzed by sadness, you aren’t doing anything.

telling people helps. talking to people about the things that are wrong and bad, the things that would pull you down into the depression. ‘cause, then they know, too. and they take that knowledge with them into every decision they make, and everything that they do.

honestly, that’s where i start, still, myself. just verbalizing the frustrations and the things that just, get you, takes the pressure off your mind a bit. move from there to organizing your thoughts, your feelings, your mind. don’t focus on the powerless feeling, focus on how the fact that you know, the fact that you can see and understand these things, makes you powerful.

my best advice from there (this is the part that i’m still working on) is to think of the things you’re good at, what you do well, and think of how you can use them to express or affect or improve or, whatever! but you don’t have to do that part, right now. start inside yourself, inside your own mind, and take baby steps from there. that’s the only way anyone can start, you know?

so, yeah. thinking about what you can do, and what is possible, is what helps you and everyone else the most.