________  ________  ________
   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