Thinking thinking thinking. Death, mortality, self worth.

One of my former students died. I had him in sophomore honors English. We got into huge arguments because he wouldn’t read a book until I proved its relevance to him. He would get into these abstract arguments about philosophy and frankly they were more interesting than the arguments of the kids who were reading. He seriously thought about the world. Tadgh. Pronounced: Tyg like in tiger. His parents were immigrants from Ireland who escaped violence. He was stabbed the first day he was my student on campus. Interesting fella.

I feel like a tremendous asshole because I am suicidal and good people die on accident. Shouldn’t I be more sensitive or something? I think just about every day of lists of reasons I can’t do it today. I’m trying to buy myself time. I have to finish the playhouse. I have to install the ceiling fan in the playroom. Things Noah won’t do but I want done in the world. I have to do __________. None of it feels very important though. So far I can’t reckon a way that I will actually matter. None of the things I want to do need to be done. The world will be perfectly happy without them.

Lately, unfortunately, my back chatter is all about how worthless and useless and pointless I am. I have no value that I can track. Nothing I do has measurable good–beyond the obvious good of my kids being not-abused. That’s a big one. That’s important. If I can manage to create two people who actually feel good about themselves given how I feel about myself that is something–right? Teaching something that I know so little about is remarkably hard. This is work. I do it because it is important work.

I’m having trouble with how I’m narrowing down my dreams. I’m feeling more and more like me hoping is a bad idea. I need to not have expectations and hopes. Then I feel let down and disappointed. I feel so sad. I would really like to not be sad. I don’t know a way of changing that beyond making it more rare for me to feel let down. That means not hoping.

I was reading some stupid thing on cracked.com (one of my favorite websites–actually) and it said that when you think of things you should do the way you think of yourself in the present is different from how you think of yourself in the future. Future self is a different person in your brain. Future self deserves things and can do things present self can’t/doesn’t.

I think I have bought myself a lot of time over the years by believing that I was doing _____ as an investment in future self. I don’t deserve this right now but someday I will where ‘this’ is anything nice or pleasant or positive. The more time goes by the more I recognize that future self is just me. Future self is a worthless piece of shit too. I don’t want to keep trying.

It’s interesting trying to step back and dispassionately be aware of my thinking. I’m terrified of the marathon. Right now I would much rather jump off an overpass than risk seeing my brother because I’m afraid he will be mean to me. How mature am I? I anticipate his hatred and loathing. I think if I was doing it alone I might quit right now. It’s hard to explain how frantic and upset and terrified I feel. I feel like I am drowning in waves of panic. Any minute one of these waves will cover me and I will never be seen or heard from again.

As a way of distracting myself I have been reading more about this INFP thing. It’s something to think about other than the myriad of ways I could die. I like having the internet tell me I’m a special snowflake with an intense inner life. It sounds less shameful than, “I hear voices that tell me I am bad and I should die.” I do like looking at a mural. It makes me believe I am creative. I’ll grasp at whatever straws I can.

Lately my morning dialogue looks a lot like, “Not today. Please not today. Get through today.” I can’t think too hard about the future. I have no ability to control or even to influence it much. Things are just going to happen to me. I can’t hope for things. Whatever happens happens. I feel very powerless to influence my life. I have to just wait and see what happens. I feel useless, worthless, and impotent.

Time for another day.