A List Of Things That Make It Better
Whether it’s meetings or friends or people who just get you and what you like, community makes even the worst shit palatable.
By 
Ari Eastman
1. Realizing UnREAL season 3 is finally on Hulu. I forgot how much I love this insane show.
2. Every time I walk outside at dusk and remember how fucking beautiful and cool and grossly poetic it is that the moon and sun take turns. It’s my favorite time of day. I don’t know why, but it feels like there’s possibility in the air. Just enough light and dark. Just enough to feel alive.
3. When he lightly scratches my arm while we’re watching a movie in bed because he knows how much I love it. Even when he stops, I mutter something like, “More please!” and he does it for another 15 minutes. And again. And again. Until I fall asleep.
4. Friends who check in. Even when they think they’re being annoying. Or when I’m in a hibernation period and act like everyone is a bother. Friends who check in make a difference. They mean I matter.
5. Podcasts. Truly what gets me through my 9-5 day. Bless basically all of Crooked Media. Anna Faris is Unqualified. Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum. Throwing Shade. And a couple of Bachelor nation podcasts I hate-listen to. Because I hate myself.
6. The high after working out. I don’t do it nearly enough. I often forget how good it feels. How liberating. How clean it makes my entire body. When I don’t do it frequently, I mistakenly think drinking does the same. It doesn’t. Not in the slightest.
7. Community. Whether it’s meetings or friends or people who just get you and what you like, community makes even the worst shit palatable.
8. Pets. We don’t deserve them. We never will. But thank god they exist.
9. A genuine compliment about something you worked hard on. Not that you need it, but having validation on a thing you killed yourself over is some kind of magic.
10. My mom. The reason I’ll always, always believe there’s good in this world. 