I was struck by this post on depression, which was written by Derek Powazek a few weeks back.

Derek, who has been one of my favorite bloggers for years, writes:

More and more these days I see life as a giant spiraling clusterfuck of bad craziness. A swirling mass of desperation that’s indifferent to any single participant in it. The vortex eats future plans and good intentions and shits them back out as chaos and sadness. It’s like the local news.

So if you can find a moment of joy in your life, you hang on to that thing for all it’s worth. It doesn’t matter what it is. Get whipped. Smoke pot. Fight. Paint pictures. Organize your closet. Create a magazine. Have sex. Make art. Take a photo of a stranger. IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT IT IS so long as it keeps you off of the edge, keeps you thinking, moving, feeling, wanting something more.

The vortex hates hope. And not pie-in-the-sky hope - that shit gets eaten up like corn chips. The vortex hates actual excitement about the future. The sincere stuff clogs it right up.

So if you can maintain that spark of hope for the future, if everyone could, we might just be able to get through the vortex together.

Well written. Amen.