March Media Detox
It happened last Saturday morning. That one last, little straw that finally broke my camel's back completely and left him running in two different directions around the living room. I was sitting on the sofa checking out what my Facebook family was up to and within thirty seconds I was openly crying. A guy in Kansas shot up his company. A father in Massachusetts killed his family. Abused animals. Dead children. Donald Trump. Racism. Anti-Muslim rhetoric. Kardashians.
I couldn't continue so I put down my cell and decided to just go do the chores on my list. As I was puttering around, I realized how sad, scared and disgusted I was. I felt like the whole world was falling apart and that I didn't want to be around my fellow humans any more. I had that panicky feeling that you get when something is really wrong in your personal life-someone you love has cancer, a family member passes away, your job is on the line. Upon further reflection, I realized, that this...THIS...was a depression of my own making.
As technology becomes more available, so does information from the outside world. I find myself checking Facebook, and various news sights...A LOT. I watch the evening news; both local and national; sometimes at 7AM, 6PM and at 9PM. I read the newspaper daily. Thus, I am inputting a constant stream of negative energy into my system and then ruminating on it non stop. I can't decide if the world is 'getting worse' or if we just have the technology to know about every little thing that happens in every little corner of the globe, or both. All I know is that I am one of those people that can't 'scan' by things or just 'shake negative information off' easily. I take it in. I take it on. I think about it. I get upset about it and these days, the bad news just keeps on coming and coming and coming. At the time it seems it's OK in small doses, but it builds up...like toxic mold... and creeps around in the corners of my brain until it's completely flooded.
So I have decided to take a media break for the month of March. I set my own rules. I will not watch the news, read the paper or on line news sources. I won't be Facebook-ing other than checking my personal messages (and posting blog update notices, if there is one) on there once a day because that is the only way some folks contact me. No games on the cell phone or laptop- minimal input on all devices. What will I do with all of my free time? Of course I already have a list:
I couldn't continue so I put down my cell and decided to just go do the chores on my list. As I was puttering around, I realized how sad, scared and disgusted I was. I felt like the whole world was falling apart and that I didn't want to be around my fellow humans any more. I had that panicky feeling that you get when something is really wrong in your personal life-someone you love has cancer, a family member passes away, your job is on the line. Upon further reflection, I realized, that this...THIS...was a depression of my own making.
As technology becomes more available, so does information from the outside world. I find myself checking Facebook, and various news sights...A LOT. I watch the evening news; both local and national; sometimes at 7AM, 6PM and at 9PM. I read the newspaper daily. Thus, I am inputting a constant stream of negative energy into my system and then ruminating on it non stop. I can't decide if the world is 'getting worse' or if we just have the technology to know about every little thing that happens in every little corner of the globe, or both. All I know is that I am one of those people that can't 'scan' by things or just 'shake negative information off' easily. I take it in. I take it on. I think about it. I get upset about it and these days, the bad news just keeps on coming and coming and coming. At the time it seems it's OK in small doses, but it builds up...like toxic mold... and creeps around in the corners of my brain until it's completely flooded.
So I have decided to take a media break for the month of March. I set my own rules. I will not watch the news, read the paper or on line news sources. I won't be Facebook-ing other than checking my personal messages (and posting blog update notices, if there is one) on there once a day because that is the only way some folks contact me. No games on the cell phone or laptop- minimal input on all devices. What will I do with all of my free time? Of course I already have a list:
- More art
- More organizing my nest
- More getting my blog back on track
- More cooking
- More reading
- More hiking
- More knitting
- More crocheting
- More visiting face to face with friends
- More phone calls to family and friends
See, I have more than enough to keep me occupied! A while back when I imposed my 'no cell phone after 6PM' rule, I immediately noticed how much more productive I was in the evenings. This just takes that one step further. I know some will say that this is hiding my head in the sand, and I guess it is...temporarily. It's more of a respite...time for my heart to heal and my faith in my fellow earth inhabitants to be restored. And I figure, if it's REALLY important news, someone will mention it to me. And think about just how much of the news you see every day is REALLY important.
It's only been a day and a half and I'm already feeling a bit lighter. Do I still have the impulse to plug in? Yup. Do I miss finding out what my friends are up to on FB? Of course! And I miss the positive and enlightening posts and saying as well. But I can't see that without getting all of the extra 'crap' that I don't ask for, and I'm full up thank you very much, so it's FB vacation time for me. Last night, I spring cleaned my bed room and finished an awesome book . Today, I got my blog back up and running. Tonight? Learning to draw turquoise stone. Sky's the limit!
Comments