In astronomy, there exists the concept of a solar wind - a collection of plasma that the Sun’s outermost layer of the Sun’s atmosphere emits. The solar wind shoots out towards the solar system and creates a dust-filled bubble called the heliosphere. 

There’s also a vast area of particles between different stars in our galaxy called the interstellar medium. To the solar wind, this interstellar medium is an obstruction that it needs to clear out to expand the heliosphere. To that end, these two entities are in an eternal fight for control of the solar system.

Keep in mind what I’ve told you in the previous two paragraphs - it’s important.

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So far, the 2020s has been a decade of many things - economic recession, political turmoil, climate change, and of course, the unstoppable, ravaging virus that continues to pose a threat to all of humanity: The Rock’s debut rap record. The Internet routinely shoves these things into our faces, and we play along. We read tweet after tweet and article after article about how everything sucks and it’s our fault.

In fact, the phenomenon of scrolling through negative news for too long got so popular that people gave it a name: “doomscrolling.” It traps us in a nihilistic echo chamber and drills into our heads the idea that humanity is, for lack of a better word, doomed. And maybe, in some masochistic way, we find it all kind of exciting.

I’m not kidding when I say that - psychological studies confirm that a lot of us have what’s called a negativity bias. We tend to seek out bad news, sometimes because we want information, sometimes because we want to feel something, but always at the cost of our mental health.

There are two sides of our brains. One of them wants to relax, browse the vexillology subreddit, and listen to the latest Coldplay album forever (okay, maybe this is just my brain). The other side wants to stock up on all the negative information it can about the world. Recently, my latter half’s been dominating (with no help from media sensationalism, might I add), and it’s bad.

The first side isn’t all that much better, though. We can’t just mute the voices of the oppressed while living in comfort. We can’t live as though bad things aren’t happening around us. It’s our moral obligation to realize that sometimes, the world truly is a dark place. It’s our moral obligation to pay attention and educate ourselves (and it would be beneficial if it was not about Tomdaya or the symbolism in the Bhutanese flag).

That means we’ve got a tough challenge to deal with. Do we keep absorbing information at the expense of our own sanity, or do we let loose and chill out at the expense of others? Which side of the brain do we pay attention to?

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Remember that space stuff I mentioned at the start of the article? Well, there’s one thing I forgot to mention there.

Closer to the Sun, the solar wind has enough pressure to fight back the weaker interstellar medium and enlarge the heliosphere. Farther away, the interstellar medium is stronger, meaning it’s able to hold its own and stop the circulation of lower-pressure solar wind near it. 

Somewhere in between, though, lies a place called the heliopause - an equilibrium region where the solar wind and interstellar system are equally strong. In the heliopause, neither entity can win, so they don’t really fight each other; they just exist in perfect harmony. 

Find the place of mind wherein the two sides of your brain exist in perfect harmony. 

Find your own heliopause.