________ ________ ________
2019-03-19 / \/ \/ / \
/ __/ /_ _/
This past Saturday we were out and about / _/ / /
around the city, just killing time, and \_______/_\___/____/\___/____/_
ducked into a local comic shop. / \/ \/ / \
/ _/ /_ _/
The store is hidden upstairs, with only a /- / _/ /
narrow entrance from the street. We hovered \________/\________/\___/____/
around the second hand toy cases, and I
explained the names and powers of the various Masters of the Universe
characters to Danielle and while we were browsing, in true Melbourne fashion,
a large and discordant public rally marched down the street outside.
The store was empty and quiet, just Dani and I and the two staff playing a
card game behind the counter and the cacophony outside was muffled by thick
glass and display cabinets against the front window. You could just glimpse
the protest through gaps between superhero figurines and life-sized costume
replicas.
I've been having a rough time with my mental health lately, and by lately I
mean it's just been slowly but steadily getting worse for the last two or
three years, and the last couple weeks have been particularly rough but in
that moment, in a quiet, safe space with a literal wall of things I love
separating me from the endless conflict and drama the world revels in I was
completely at peace.
In a way it was almost jarring, it really brought into focus just how
shitty I have been feeling and how shitty a lot of people make me feel. So
many people are always looking for conflict and scandal, it's all they do,
hours upon hours arguing on social media, having to be the first to pounce on
whatever is the freshest cause or the latest scandal like some ghoulish,
narcissist peanut gallery and refusing to let anyone pass who doesn't engage
them, regardless of whether they're friend or foe.
I am a non-combatant, I exist and am comfortable existing in a tiny little
bubble away from the fighting. The bubble exists emotionally in my
relationship with Danielle and virtually in places like baud.baby but in that
store, for a minute the bubble was a real, tangible space.
EOF