Mickey Hates Santa

For me, the most depressing religious philosophy concerning the condition of existence is the concept of samsara, where you are continually reincarnated until you get it right. For those of us who feel as if the brutal burden of being alive is perhaps the cruelest joke, the idea that, when you’ve finally discharged your obligations in that regard, you get sent back to the start, as if you were playing some sadistic game of Chutes and Ladders, is almost too painful to consider. Once around will be more than enough, thanks. Still, every time you are tempted to wallow in the mire of despair over the sheer strain of subsistence — and the chance, however remote, that it’s going to happen all over again — try to remind yourself that things like this incident out of Orlando occur in the world all the time, if only to allow the absurdity to alleviate your agony in some small way. It doesn’t usually work, but how much worse would it be if you didn’t even try?