This show about mental health is like Sesame Street for adults

I’ve settled on calling Pastimes a journal. That seems a better fit than “newsletter” — not that there’s anything wrong with that word at all.

I’m still figuring out a lot of the overall direction of Pastimes, but I am pretty certain about a few things. One, that I’ll open the floor to guest writers in the coming months — I plan to pay them out of pocket to begin with.

Two, to bring you more than just semi-weeklyish essays I think you’ll find interesting while being careful not to overextend myself.

(And three, a logo and design 🫠)

I didn’t have the bandwidth for the essay — I’m gonna start calling those “entries,” I think? Suggestions still welcome there) I’d planned to put together this week. But I do have something to share, so it seems like a good idea to debut this format.

I’m calling these “scribbles.” Because you might scribble an idea in a journal. I also used to work at a defunct website called Scribbal, fact fans. (I’m shocked it’s still live!)

My thinking is that scribbles are shorter posts than entries, and they’re about things that I don’t think would quite fit as an intro or recommendation in a Connections column. They probably won’t pop up on a regular schedule either, but we’ll figure it out as we go. In any case, this first scribble seems quite apt.

I’ve been feeling more anxious in more situations in recent months. It’s something I will get help with. I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me.

That anxiety extends to Pastimes to a degree. I’m trying as best I can to trust myself enough to know that I’m sharing something a diverse audience will appreciate.

But at the same time, before I hit that send (or schedule) button, I have feelings of self-doubt that the post is boring or uninteresting, and that I’m flooding your inbox with junk. I don’t want to do that. I want to be respectful of your time and attention. So, I’m wrangling with some anxiousness every time I send out a post.

Anyway, all of this is to say that I was delighted to discover a new YouTube project from someone I admire. Ashly Burch (Mythic Quest, Aloy in the Horizon games) is a tremendous performer, and she’s the writer and host of a web series called I’m Happy You’re Here.

This is a show about mental health. It’s styled after educational kids’ programs and it has lots of puppets. I see it as a version of Sesame Street just for adults and older kids, as it has swears and some dirty jokes. It’s dealing with heavy issues too. The first of which is, oddly enough, anxiety. 

Burch and her collaborators approach the subject in a tactful, but funny and warm way. They adeptly distill the concept of anxiety and how it manifests. They offer some strategies on how to deal with it, and maybe, hopefully, make it vanish into the ether.

I’ve been in therapy for a couple of years, off and on. I think I’m a much better, more mature and more rounded person for the most part as a result of that. The lack of easy and affordable access to mental health resources for everyone who would benefit from it (i.e. everyone) is a crisis. I at least hope this video both helps people better understand anxiety and anxiety disorders, and how to manage them.

The episode also offered me some clarity and perspective as to how to have (what might be) uncomfortable conversations with my closest family members when I next visit them. I’m very grateful for that. And given how wonderful the first installment is, I’m very much looking forward to the next episode of I’m Happy You’re Here.

As always, I’d love to hear your feedback about this scribble. You can do that:

• In the Pastimes channel on our (free!) Discord

• Leaving a comment below — make sure to sign in first!

• Hitting the reply button if you’re reading this in your email

I would also be deeply appreciative if you shared this with other people who may find it interesting. You can forward this to them as an email, hit the share buttons at the very top of the page or do it the old-fashioned way by copying and pasting a link from the web version.

If you’re new here, then hi! Also, you know what to do :)

P.S. I guess this counts as a recommendation? I don’t often have the bandwidth to go a bit deeper on a news story and put it into context with lots of analysis, but I was able to do that yesterday.

This could have been a very dry news post about a partnership between Xbox and AMD. I wager a lot of you won’t care at all, but I think I did a good job of pulling together a bunch of threads and thoughts for this one:

Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Be kind to yourself and others! Call someone you love!