Alex Dobrinko, at his Substack The Sublime, has a conversation with Adam Mastroianni, the writer behind one of Substack’s most popular newsletters Experimental History.

He asks him how we might find optimism and hope in a world that often feels dark and cynical. His answer is glorious.

“I think the root of the problem is the globalization of all problems.

Now, it feels like anything bad that happens anywhere in the world is somehow relevant to me and my responsibility. It’s like, I’m not allowed to be happy as long as someone, somewhere, is having a bad time.

Especially with global problems, it’s like, how are you allowed to smile when there’s climate change? These problems are really bad, but you can’t change everything yourself.

No one benefits from you scrolling on your phone and feeling sad and then going to Starbucks.

The antidote is figuring out what you care about, what you’re good at, and what you like doing that can make the world a little bit better.

Then, really do that thing.“

That bit about no one benefitting from doomscrolling is spot on. My goal in 2025 is to actively not do that and doing the things I care about.