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“Here Comes the Fear Again, The End is Near Again”…
Here’s what “existential angst” feels like to me:
“What day is it today?”
“Should I look at the news headlines?”
“Should I check my Twitter feed?”
“How many articles/essays should I read here on Medium?”
“Where is the nearest time machine and how can I easily access it?”
I know quite a few people in my life who are optimists. There is nothing inherently “wrong” about being an optimist; in fact, many health studies claim that having a “positive attitude” helps contribute to a longer life expectancy.
Truth be told, I envy those optimists; much as I envy religious people because at least the optimism and the religion serve as a bulwark in the face of relentless news to the contrary. Al Gore’s documentary of several years ago is even more alarming now: “An Inconvenient Truth.” Because, that seems to be the overwhelming pretext of so much today. Meaning just this: Inconvenient.
Do I have existential angst every single day? No, but at the same time, it’s always there, underneath the surface of everything, hiding and skulking about. I’m aware of it, I try my best to override it but it’s still always there.
