No News Is Good News – Well Almost None
At some point in 2022 I decided that I was done watching and listening to the TV/radio news completely.
For several years prior I had been shown signs that I should stop watching and/or listening to the news but I guess I just was not ready to make the change.
The first person who I discovered, who did not watch much tv let alone the news, was my life coach Melissa (2019.) As always, I was on the lookout for ways to improve my life, so I asked her what her daily routines looked like. She did not have any TV on in the morning, she said the silence was good. That felt very weird, but it planted a seed.
A few years ago, I learned that my close friend Christina does not listen to or watch the news period. If I mention the war in Israel or the border, she has no comment because she has no idea what is going on and she is open about it. Me – I thought how could someone “live under a rock” like that? Be so uninformed. Didn’t she feel dumb when world topics came up in conversations with clients? Seed #2.
Honestly, my news musings always felt like I was trying to stay well informed and well-rounded. Listening to both “sides” I turned on Fox News in the morning, driving to work I listened to NPR and my husband I watched the Five together each night, on Fox News. When I found Fox News and/or NPR swinging too far to the left or the right on important issues I became more and more annoyed with both outlets.
Somewhere in 2021 I went down the conspiracy theory rabbit hole. You start with one little podcast talking about aliens and the government not being honest. About 3 months into the conspiracy podcasts I realized that I was starting to sound kind of crazy when I shared the ideas with others. Being thought of a being “out there” is nothing new to me when it comes to life changing, expansive concepts like Human Design and the Kabbalah, but this was different and again not positive or expansive. They truly call it a rabbit hole for a reason. It happens and you are deep before you even know what has hit you. When I realized this, I hit unsubscribe, cannot say I did not miss the rush I used to get from listening to them, but I got past it.
One day in 2022 I just decided I would not watch Fox or listen to NPR anymore. I was just done!!
After maybe 18 months of no news, this Thanksgiving season I thought I would put a show on that would have cooking on in the background while I cleaned the house. Well, what I chose was not a cooking show but was a chatty news show. After about 20 minutes I noticed that I felt uneasy. As I paid attention, the music that was being played in the background of the show was creating what I would call fear and unease in my body. Imagine the impact just the music, let alone all the negative news has on just peoples’ bodies.
Although I sort of keep my head in the sand when it comes to all things new related, I do get what I call my “TiKTok news.” There are 2 or 3 guys who do little spoofs on current events. If the President falls off his bike or an ex-President gets indicted I know about it.
Maybe 3 days a week I will listen to the NY Times podcast. Many of their stories are in depth and seem to be just reporting rather than sharing their opinions. I will not listen if the title seems too charged or may upset little, sensitive me.
If things do get bad out in the world my husband will let me know. He still watches the Five every day and listens to the radio.
My mornings are now spent journaling, meditating and other things that expand my life and my consciousness. I listen to positive, expansive, and illuminated podcasts. When I come home, I do watch TV but not the news. Out in the world, when someone asks if I have heard about something in the news, my answer may very well be that I have not. This certainly has not me made feel dumb or uninformed, which is nice and truly not how I expected to feel.