We’re back to that time when I can’t keep up with the news. I’ve unplugged once again because the accounts of negative, stupid, horrendous, shocking, and violent events repetitively dominate all news cycles. I must even unplug from my trusted reporters and those highly respected news outlets in print and on social media as well. That’s not to say the reporters are cherry-picking the bad stuff out of a wide variety of interesting possibilities.
I’m saying bad news is abundant, more than abundant, it’s pervasive and overshadowing of most else. We all know bad news sells. Networks let a litany of the scariest stories rip at the top of the hour and only place the more sane, serene, and cheerful stuff almost as an afterthought in the last five minutes or so. Shouldn’t I be used to this?
I should be able to keep up with the bad news/good news cycle, but I’m not. The last five to ten years has broken my resilient nature to having the news inform me and then letting go of said horribleness. I’d like to become stronger and not let bad news happening beyond my control make me feel the desire for a martini at noon. But that’s my work to do, and I continue to struggle with perspective, lack of control, the need to have it make sense, and the inability to have it be viewed or heard and then gone from my psyche and my soul. If I’m enmeshed with the news, it’s harder for me to see the joy elsewhere in my day.
What can I do to keep up but not go down with the keeping up part?
We’ve talked before about unplugging, which for me is the best and easiest. But there’s another way that might be just as easy.
Acknowledgment and permission
In some crowds, it’s sort of the in thing to complain about the overabundance of bad events and the reports that are generated as a result. I’ve never really spoken out loud, “There’s nothing there [in the news] that’s good for me. I’m not weak or less than because I can’t let it just wash through me and then move on.” More than just words, this is true for me. Permission to be vulnerable and look at the negativity as bad for my health is a new behavior I’m experimenting with to deal with bad news.
I don’t have to keep up. I don’t have to let the plethora of horrible news into my life at any level. I can sit with this truth instead of trying different methods to cope with not keeping up. It’s refreshing for me to not worry about keeping up with all that comes my way. I‘ll bet it’s impossible for others to keep up as well.
It’s too much. I can quit trying.
Keeping Up in Comfort
Come sit with me as we watch nature or dream greater possibilities for our future. We are no less because we admit to not being able to, or even wanting to, keep up. It’s up to us to filter out what we will and will not allow into our minds and hearts.
I hear that digital minimalism is practiced more now. By withdrawing from all the time I spend on my phone or on my computer, I can master the practice of digital minimalism. This will create clean emotional space to dream about how we can create more good news that is a joy to keep up with. My purpose isn’t to juggle all the negativity, especially since it sticks inside my soul for so long.
Isn’t our purpose to create more positivity and leave the keeping up to others? Let’s give ourselves permission to focus on keeping up with the good.
I too limit my news and I also subscribe to Nice News with Uplifting stories. Some days I skip live news and read local on my iPad. It helps control my anxiety level. Love your blog and views!
Great suggestion to learn about the Good New Network. I think I found the link here. I’ll check it out! Thanks for reading, Arlene.