I read an article awhile back about how there's never been a bigger gap between people's perception of the economy (really bad), and the actual health of the economy (actually pretty good). It probably has something to do with social media and the skewed reality presented there.
But, yeah, I do my best to count my blessings (I keep a gratitude notebook). Sometimes, it just doesn't work, though. Maybe over time I do feel better than I would otherwise, but it's hard to measure without a control "me" who didn't do the journaling.
I had some sticker shock when I first moved here from Japan. When I left, Japan still hadn't experienced any pandemic inflation. Everything still cost the same. Later, I found out that it's less a US thing and more that things are just more expensive in California. So, obviously, if I want to pay less, I can just leave the state. But, overall, I'm pretty comfortable not participating in consumerism, so I don't think it's a big deal, really.
I read an article awhile back about how there's never been a bigger gap between people's perception of the economy (really bad), and the actual health of the economy (actually pretty good). It probably has something to do with social media and the skewed reality presented there.
But, yeah, I do my best to count my blessings (I keep a gratitude notebook). Sometimes, it just doesn't work, though. Maybe over time I do feel better than I would otherwise, but it's hard to measure without a control "me" who didn't do the journaling.
I had some sticker shock when I first moved here from Japan. When I left, Japan still hadn't experienced any pandemic inflation. Everything still cost the same. Later, I found out that it's less a US thing and more that things are just more expensive in California. So, obviously, if I want to pay less, I can just leave the state. But, overall, I'm pretty comfortable not participating in consumerism, so I don't think it's a big deal, really.