It appears to me that a certain percentage of the population views this time of year with so much trepidation that if it was possible, they would spend the entire Three Weeks locked away and never leave the house.
In my own humble opinion this doesn’t seem appropriate. As is almost always the case, balance is the best approach.
Sure, many unfortunate incidents have occurred during this time, and it is a time to mourn the loss of the Temple, and in which many restrictions apply. Yes, by all means you should be aware of all of this. However, you can’t let it get you down. The message shouldn’t be to cower in fear afraid of the next bad thing that might happen. The point of the restrictions and mourning is to help us reflect, correct and grow. We should always be optimistic and hopeful that this generation, our generation, can be the ones to make things right.
Isn’t it odd that these two fast days are only known by the dates in which they occur on the Jewish calendar? Wouldn’t it have been logical to give them names, the way Yom Kippur has a name? Perhaps these two fast days are known only by their dates because there is nothing inherently wrong with the dates, and the Sages tell us that these dates are destined to eventually be holidays.
Next year in Jerusalem!