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This is an essay.
It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
I've had people ask me how I handle working in some of the most toxic places on Wikipedia, such as arbitration enforcement, Indian caste articles, and longevity articles, without losing my mind. Since I hear this question with some frequency, I've finally decided to write it in one place so all I have to do is link to it. There are two main reasons I've never lost my mind working in these places. One is that I simply can't get too concerned about what happens here. It has a very minimal impact on what happens elsewhere in my life, and I have larger problems to deal with.
But sometimes, even I start to feel my body's response to stress; my arms and hands stiffen to the point that they're rock solid and shaking.[1] This is where the second part of my success comes in. All I do is minimize my browser and take a look at my computer's background picture. Yours is probably a stock background photo, or maybe a picture of you or your family that's special to you; mine is a photo of three Cambodian children in a refugee camp. Since it's a copyrighted picture I can't upload it here, and unfortunately it is now offline, but I can easily provide it to you upon request. Looking at it for a little while invariably shakes my perspective back into focus, and I can then reopen my browser feeling none the worse for wear.
I don't know how helpful anyone will find this, and indeed I think many people wouldn't be able to relate to it at all. But hopefully someone will find this useful, and perhaps it will extend someone's career on Wikipedia. Even if only one person besides me finds this at all helpful, I'll be supremely happy I took the short time I needed to write it.
