I know this stuff, but I forget til Im presented with it once again. I usually dont watch the news at all. Yet - the news at the gym - all captioned, no sound - it is almost inescapable. It shows rubble, people freaking out and grieving, with text that repeats Quake rocks San Francisco -- Gov declares state of emergency Like the coverage of Ferguson/Michael Brown, Mosul Dam, Jihad/James Foley, all of these tragedies and so many more ... network news repeats the most fearful and discouraging images, over and over, accompanied by sweeping generalizations. Stay alert. Be careful. And then there are ten commercials for... insurance, or skin cream, or a medical alert device, or vacation flights... and then you come back to see who wore what to which star-studded event. Stay alert. Be careful. Run away. I was reading Gabor Matés book, Scattered Minds. He was citing Hallowell and Ratey (of Driven to Distraction) who spoke of our ADD-ogenic culture. I thought, this is one of the manifestations of that. It also felt a bit like interacting with someone who is in a manic state. Or who is about to create their own manic state. And all of it is meant to stir us up and then present us with stuff to distract or provide some sort of relief or escape. Buy this, youll feel better... and you deserve it. But there is no escape, as long as you keep watching. And if you stop, you feel detached, disconnected, and thats as uncomfortable. Loris mom and sister were distraught the other day - theyd been watching the news. They both started to repeat to me what theyd seen. I stopped them. I asked, If it makes you feel so horrible, why watch it? We need to know whats going on in the world. I hear that from so many people. If I watched the news every day, I would not have the energy to do what I do. I would not have the energy to live the life Ive been given, and to reach others I actually CAN support in their lives. I think we need to make our own news. To put our energy there. Yes, there is tragedy, but if I cant do anything about it - as is so often the case in network news - it can wring me out like a dishrag. I cannot do anything for the people of Ferguson, for the families of Michael Brown and James Foley, or for those fighting for control of Mosul Dam. I need my energy to do what I can do where I can do it. If that sounds selfish, so be it. I cannot watch the weight of so many other peoples misery and suffering without being touched by it, moved by it, and ultimately wrung out by it. This life is precious. It takes energy to live it. Now I need to take my ADD-ogenic brain into the work-a-day. Happy Monday Ranting to You!
Posted on: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 14:19:55 +0000
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