Doom and Gloom

Doom and gloom.

We love it, don’t we?

We love a bit of doom and gloom.

Keeps us on our toes… Gives us something to talk about. To rant about. To write about.

It’s all too enticing, doom and gloom, all too alluring.

‘Five dead in gas explosion.’

‘Tensions between two nations heat up – is a nuclear war imminent?’

‘South Africa variant now contractable even to previous COVID sufferers.’

‘Classified documents – leaked – confirming what we all, already suspected.’

It’s addicting, doom and gloom.

It makes us feel, clever… because we figured it out.

It grasps our attention, makes us feel prepared.

It calls us to action.

Yet, it also blocks us, stunts us, overwhelms us.

It prevents us from seeing the glowing silver-linings behind every thick dark cloud.

The lessons behind every unfortunate event.

The opportunity for growth.

The phoenix that rises from the ashes; growth.

The rotting fruit whose decomposition nourishes the soil beneath, making room for something new; growth.

The ability to break any cycle that isn’t working, to adapt, to move forward; growth.

Because we don’t really want to live in perpetual sadness, perpetually anxious.

I believe, at the heart of all this doom and gloom, is love. ..

It is a warning that says, “don’t be like me, you can do better.”

It is a collective encouraging that says, “don’t be like that, we can be better…”

Make better choices, learn from our mistakes, grow.

Although the Yin cannot exist without its Yang, maybe all we really need to do is adjust where we put our focus.

When we focus, not on the destruction, but how to make it better…

Not on the sadness, but the newfound clarity of exactly what makes us happy, we bloom.

I don’t think that’s a bad price to pay, for a bit of doom and gloom.

Written by:

Gabrielle Benna