Let's make talking about depression less cringey!

"In a society governed by ritual, there is no depression. In such a society, the soul is fully absorbed by ritual forms; it is even emptied out. Rituals contain aspects of the world, and they produce in us a strong relationship to the world. Depression, by contrast, is based on an excessive relation to self. Wholly incapable of leaving the self behind, of transcending ourselves and relating to the world, we withdraw into our shells. The world disappears. We circle around ourselves, tortured by feelings of emptiness. Rituals, by contrast, disburden the ego of the self, de-psychologizing and de-internalizing the ego."

Hola,

This quote is from Byung-Chul Han's latest book. I started to read this book this week as a form of tribute to my BA thesis supervisor, Sergio Roncallo, who died this year. Sergio used to share Han's quotes on Twitter and we used to discuss them. Thank you for fostering my academic curiosity!

It is brave to say that "in a society governed by ritual, there is no depression". I find his argument hard to conceive. However, I do agree that seeing oneself as part of something bigger in the universe helps to relieve existential anxieties. Also, sharing meaningful and symbolic experiences with others is helpful for overcoming depressive cases.

What I value the most from this quote is its form. It triggers a discussion immediately and makes you reflect. Talking about depression and being vulnerable to others is definitely a vital aspect that is missing in our society.

Find here a list of things I found worth sharing from last week:

1. Watch. Just start watching Christmas films... I was reluctant to do it but I watched Love actually this week and just by coincidence the films starts 5 weeks before Christmas! By the way, I think the most overlooked song from the film is Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell.
2. Listen. Energetic music from Barcelona by Ketekalles. Spotify / YouTube. "Remendar el caos" is their first album and starting from the name it is beautiful. Their music immediately moves me when I listened to it.
3. Eat. Cooked whole fish for three days in a row. Just rub some salt, olive oil, garlic and then put it in the oven at 200C/390F degrees for 35 minutes. Tip: Add some vegetables to the tray and add a whole garlic clove inside the fish.
4. Remember. Diego Maradona died... from all the content produced this week about his death, this piece written by Brian Phillips is enough to grasp how big he was for some. Thank you Dani Issroff for sharing this article with me. When I introduce myself and I sometimes say "Diego... like Maradona" and people tend to remember my name. Once in Egypt, someone started calling me "Armando" afterwards as Maradona's full name is Diego Armando Maradona. 😅
5. Laugh.Let's hope winter holidays are back to normal to have more videos like this one!

Thanks for reading and have a nice week!

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Diego,

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