I dropped Facebook, is the news next?

Here I am, just over a month after dropping Facebook.   If you remember from my Facebook blog post, I dropped Facebook for a few reasons.  I felt the technology was managing me, I also felt that Facebook ate up too much of my time, and the messages I was consuming were too toxic for me.  Lately, I am having similar challenges with the news.

I am feeling angry.  I am feeling frustrated.  I am feeling anxious.  Every day I wake up and our President is doing something I don’t agree with.  Something, that I tell myself is widening the divide between the people within our country.  Widening the divide between our country and other countries.  Doing things that hurt our environment.  Doing things that hurt our future.  

I try the empathetic approach.  Why would this man make these choices?  He is probably scared, angry, and frustrated.  He is probably anxious about the day he is going to leave the White House, and he is going to have to face reality.  The reality we’ve heard about in recent months.  He has bills to pay.  HUGE bills.  He has legal proceedings to attend, where he is the defendant and his odds aren’t looking very good.   But why would he choose to burn down the country before leaving the office?  How are his behaviors fulfilling his mantra, “Make America Great Again?”

I’ve been thinking about my feelings and needs around what I perceive my president should be.  I realize I am one of 331 million (and counting) people in the US.  What I need may not be what others need.  I need predictability, stability, trust, kindness, and authenticity.  I’m not seeing any of those needs being met these days.  Every day I read the news.  It seems the news is changing dramatically multiple times a day.  When I wake up, there’s the daily rundown from The NY Times in my email inbox.  Even before that message arrives, there may be a few “Breaking News” messages about issues so dramatic, that they have to have their own separate feed.  During the day I receive more of these “Breaking News” messages.  It’s become unnerving for me.

I enjoy reading The NY Times.  They have great journalists who report in depth stories on what is going on in the world.  I even listen to The NY Times podcast, “The Daily,” to learn even more details about our changing country and world.  I get Time magazine weekly, and AARP The Magazine, monthly.  I’ve been taking books out of the library that discuss the country’s issues with race, religion, and gender.  For the last 4 years I’ve practically clung to this information to keep myself aware of the changes in our country.  I find it helps my own self care practice of activism.  But when does it get a bit too far?

Now.  Now I am anxious and angry.  Now I feel overwhelmed with the lack of what I can do.  I can be anxious and angry, and that won’t change the behavior of the President.  The more I listen to or read the news lately, the more anxious and angry I become.  Those are challenging emotions for me to carry on a regular basis.  I am getting emotionally exhausted.  So what can I do?

I’ve decided to take a pause.  I am starting with 2 non-consecutive days a week.  2 days a week I am not going to read the news, read the news alerts, read my news related magazines or books, or listen to “The Daily.”  2  days a week I won’t be looking at the local Covid counts or checking the stock market. 2 days a week if you want to talk to me about the news, I am going to set a boundary.  “I’m sorry.  I’m not connecting with the news today.  Let’s talk about that topic another time.”  If you send me a political meme on one of these days, I probably won’t look at it.  I realize the need to step away is personal.  I am not judging you if you like to read the news everyday.  I am only looking out for my own needs.

Now I am not a big fan of lack.  I know that when I take things away (food, entertainment, travel), I feel unhappy and gloomy.  Abstinence is not a form of self-care for me.  I flourish in an environment of choice and abundance.  I need growth and challenge in my life.  So what will happen when I take the news away?

I will replace it.  Just as I discovered with Facebook, there are so many other things I can be doing with my time.  Taking away the news provides an opportunity for growth in other areas.  I can read Rumi.  There are so many podcasts on Buddhist teachings that I want to listen to.  There seem to be an endless number of podcasts on body acceptance and weight neutrality that I can listen to.  I can have those set to play on my phone.  On those 2 days a week, when I reach for my phone to look up the latest news flash I can just hit, “play.”

This effort is an experiment.  I can stop at any time.  I am entering this space with curiosity to discover how I can self soothe and support myself with kindness.  We will see how it goes.  I know my month+ without Facebook has been refreshing and freeing.  Perhaps my disconnect from the news can be similar.