First, the only way I can approach anything right now is by not taking it seriously. Or not giving it personal weight. This is one of many contradictions I experience constantly. Until I was in my early 20s, I managed to believe, easily and intensely, that I need to do what mattered, to myself and by extension to the people and structures I had inherited my beliefs. It was essential and beautiful-feeling to follow that feeling. As I crossed from adolescence into adulthood (and I don't think I'm alone in this, though there are strong particulars in my story that basically nobody else I've ever met has endured), I was increasingly in conflict. What mattered to me didn't matter to the larger world; and what mattered to the world made no sense to me. I'm cursed to ask why things are a certain way, and to be unable to accept the answer if it isn't sensible.
Obviously this has made my life miserable, because "the world" doesn't make sense. Not in a way that applies to most people. Our actions and efforts are dictated as much as possible by extractive power. I don't know why it has to be like this. We can find happiness or at least quietude by finding a way to align our peculiarities with some larger power.
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When have you ever had neighbors you talked with, let alone liked or felt close with? When have you ever been able to choose to live near enough to the people you do enjoy to feel neighborly? I've been thinking about how logistically impossible this is for most people. Houses built for just a few people, no ability to coordinate moving into nearby buildings to be closer to people you care about. Constant driving, and me carless now for... christ, over 4 years? Not even touching on the pandemic, but talking about a prior world, a fantasy world now where we can't live anymore, not a good fantasy but still unreal.
There was a period in my early 20s when 3 different friends of mine all lived in the same apartment complex. That was nice. It didn't persist, for normal reasons. For a few years around 30, I had a group of friends who would make regular plans to gather to play games or have meals. That was great, too, and also went away for me. Right now the best I can do to feel close to people is gather in a group call to play a video game together, most of which cap out at 4 or 5 total people in a reasonable way.
I have always wanted a big house where I could throw parties, have guest rooms for lots of friends. Many friends share the impossible dream of getting a huge mansion together, large enough to have space but contiguous for community. Or houses on the same street, apartments in the same building, or at least connected by simple transit — each just as impossible as the next for all of us. We all want a village, but we can't even have a neighbor.
Why?