I feel a sort of duty of staying informed about the suffering in the world. This includes current events like war crimes being commited today; as well as the history of oppression: colonialism, imperialism etc.
But it makes me feel bad, really depressed. I feel like I'm torturing myself. So I try to stay back, take care of my mental health.
But then I feel bad turning my eyes away from it. It's like the passerbys looking away from a homeless person. Or the people, safe at home, not caring about the suffering of others because it's far away and it doesn't touch them personally.
I guess I'm not alone feeling this. How do you find a balance between taking care of yourself and not falling into apathy, insensitivity, or willful ignorance?
There is beauty in this world, you just have to look for and appreciate it. Once you find something with awe, it makes up for all the adversity in the world. You just have to accept that. It's called radical acceptance. Fully accepting something without judgement of good or bad. It just is what it is and we all have to find our own ways of dealing with it. Nevertheless, look for beauty.