Journal of Other Forum Analysis (Volume II, Issue 2)

[Jansen]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/2025-has-been-so-exhausting-for-me.1345147/

I feel like this isn't a controversial thing to say, 2025 has been exhausting and for that's quite literal for me emotionally, I feel very emotionally exhausted from this years stampede of bad and sad news; from two of my beloved cats dying and other personal things I don't feel comfortable discussing here, the sheer constant transphobia, Starmer and Trump (and their parties) being awful, the attempted second Autism scare (which thankfully seemed to backfire and whimper) etc etc etc... It's just been a lot to take in and it came ahead for me in September/October (I usually get seasonal depression anyway in early to mid-late October so it didn't help).



Many have said to take breaks or disengage entirely from online discussion and the news (both from people online and offline), but for me this never works because then I'm worried I'm missing incredibly important news that could affect and people I care about, making me feel even more anxious and worried; so in October I decided to try something else, acknowledge but not feel the need to engage.



At this point I feel like unless I have something meaningful or substantial to add, I'm just shouting to the choir on here and repeating myself over and over so now I don't bother engaging in the Political topics (helps that their are several other users on the site that can say what I want to say better then I can) unless I have something new or truly meaningful to say. I've also decided to just disengage with fan war stuff entirely like the recent Pokémon stuff and just post my honest thoughts on the Z-A OT not caring about the fan war.



I actively avoid political Reddits now and only use Bluesky for fan art purposes. All of which has helped a lot and has made me feel happier and more full of energy. It probably also helps October also had two video games that I've ended up loving (despite their flaws), Digimon Story: Time Stranger and Pokémon Legends Z-A which has helped. I feel I have more energy, I feel more healthy, I've been able to work on my novel and private projects again after months of stalling and feeling emotional tired etc.



How's this year been for you?

wlw?