This blog was originally meant to mainly post informative articles.

What exactly is "informative"? For example, "I like apples!" — that's not information. To an outsider who isn't interested in me, it's just a "So what?" kind of statement.

But "There's a supermarket that sells delicious apples super cheap" — that's information. This isn't limited to just me; it's something that can be practically helpful to anyone. That's what being informative means. It helps many people make better choices.

Informative People vs. Narrative People

There are people around us who act in very sensible, predictable ways that are genuinely helpful to others. I'd like to call such people "informative people."

The reactions of an informative person are predictable. When someone is predictable, others learn how to deal with their reactions, and relationships become easier. Plus, since they benefit me, they naturally become important people in my life.

A prime example of informative people are celebrities. They set up a character that viewers love and consistently live within that character. Because they're consistent, others feel a sense of stability when looking at them, and that stability draws people in.

So, what's the opposite of being informative? I think it's narrative.

A narrative isn't completed by a single sentence. Various moments stack up, creating an overall context, and meaning is made within that.

For instance, "You shouldn't cross when the traffic light is red" — that's a single piece of information. It has meaning just in that sentence itself.

But "I don't have the patience to wait for the traffic light," "So I just ran across on red," "And ended up getting hit by a car." → This is how moments connect to create context, and meaning emerges from that — that's a narrative. The sentences that make up a narrative don't have much meaning on their own.

Feeling depressed means that I've become a narrative person, whether temporarily or chronically. And not just a simple narrative, but a rather special kind of narrative person, one deeply engrossed in a disconnected narrative with no apparent way forward.

"I don't have the patience to wait for the traffic light,"

"So I just ran across on red"...

"So I just ran across on red"......

"So I just ran across on red"......... 

I just ran, world, what should I do now? 

Clinging pitifully to a single sentence that is, in itself, useless to anyone, stopping, and desperately pleading with the world in isolation – that's how I see depression.