So I saw this illustration on Facebook the other day and it felt so accurate that I am bringing it here, although I cannot find the illustrator. If you happen to see it, please let me know.

The thing about existential dread is how it drains

The color from every wall in your head, how it grows past

Every other emotion, the way a shadow can inflate itself

Until it is taller than the thing the light is hitting, whether

Self or other. The trick with existential dread is to move

So that the shadow must run if it wants to keep up:

Vacuum the rug, do cardio, chase the cat through

The living room—the room for living not simply existing—

Follow the cat’s example and live in the present moment,

This present moment, the only one we ever really have,

The one so hard to stay in. Don’t let the existential dread

Set in, don’t let it set in. Make pasta if you must, add pesto,

Eat it with gusto. Shop for a new tie to look dapper in. Don’t

Let the existential dread set in. Don’t let it set in. Keep moving.