TL;DR (aka short version) - I feel awful. Psychosomatic pain and my mood is in the toilet. Figuratively speaking ofc...
Why, or how I got here:
Didn't have such a great day today. Mood went to shit after getting home from meditation center this morning. I don't know why, but it started right as I was thinking about what I would do today re: my job hunt. I had the thought that maybe I should look at what do I want to do long term, like - what do I want to accomplish before I finally escape this prison of meat and faulty brain processes. Answer: Not a goddam thing. I've accomplished anything I ever wanted to, or have reached a point where it's not likely enough to set any expectations around it. And when it comes down to it, none of it really matters. Academic and professional achievements mean nothing as early as 2 years later. Traumatic events, on the other hand, only accumulate.
I later had the thought that if I could somehow change time such that my existence would never have gotten started in the first place, I would opt for oblivion in an instant. The cost/benefit analysis of my life to date is decidedly negative. There is very, very little that could happen in the future that would be positive enough to balance that ledger. Unfortunately, my parents were not big on birth control so here I am with my siblings (who are also fucked up in pretty similar ways).
I read in a certain book that there is a Tibetan proverb that could be translated as, "Better to not get started, but once started, see it through to the end." The metaphor was a surgical operation - once you're on the table being cut up, it's a bit late to back out! This is how I've come to relate to the Buddhist teachings on suicide. There are none that I am aware of that directly address suicide. However, suicide under depression is an extreme form of suffering, usually a combination of aggression (wanting things to be different than they are) and ignorance (disordered mood that obscures the reality of things as they are). Extending the teachings on relating with the machinations of our self-seeking neurosis, it is the case that suicide is a really bad idea, probably worse than being born in the first place. Given that suicide is often not a voluntary act when it occurs, I have decided that I will focus on keeping at least my head above water so that I don't get past the point where it's too late to back out of a fatal decision.
What I really find meaningful is being of service, but only when it's not on purpose. Going out to do good is called being a goody-two-shoes and ends up bolstering a person's ego. Like comparison, ego is also a thief of joy. In fact, comparison is precisely the ego trying to bolster itself, or to do the opposite if the goal is to punish or accuse ourselves. I do both, sometimes simultaneously. I've also burnt myself out doing volunteer work for the wrong reasons.