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The media is a tool for information. It can be a useful tool. If it causes a person too much distress, it is time to limit its use. I have limited my use, and that's how I cope. I want to stay informed but not be paralyzed by emotions.
Not sure where to put this and this post is not about the news. It is the effect the news, the images, that are having on us.
I left my fitness class this morning, grateful for the hour of an intense work out, focusing on my breathing and counting, which took my mind off the news. My radio is mostly tuned to NPR and the discussion began when i started driving. More than anything else it is the children crying, screaming, asking for their parents, their family, images of them with bandages for their wounds, war wounds !, the babies, the hostages - 85 years old, but most of all the lost and traumatized and murdered children. It weighs heavily on me, I was moaning and crying and had to stop my car.
My religion tells me the world is unreal, and what is real is within, the only reality, the only truth. The emotions are unreal, they pass, hold on to the real, the centering spirit within. Meditating on this does help.
How are you coping with this?
I don't listen to NPR except at Christmas.
I don't have a radio (poor reception out here in the country), nor do I have a car (they cost too much).
Close to home I hear about public health departments who help children with their teeth because their parents can't afford to pay out of pocket.
"Suffer the little children to come unto Me," (says my religious leader), "for of such is the kingdom of God."
I had to quit listening daily to the news. If I was depressed about it, it was manifesting in free-floating anger and it made me and those around me unhappy. I learned how and when to find the news I needed to have, stayed away from commentary sites (not easy since most news is commentary today) and limit the amount of time I spent.
When I felt irresponsible for not being up to date on everything I reminded myself that most of the worlds' process has always gone along fixing or messing itself up just fine without me.
The other thing - individual's stories of grief and loss are more difficult. Like Parnassias says, find something locally you can do to help ease someone's pain and don't carry the weight of the world's sorrows on your helpless head. You don't need to add one more suffering human to the mix.
And if you really want to challenge your ego, some days I just ask myself who in the heck I think I am that I have to have a sense of responsibility for all this pain and confusion. Am I really that important in the scheme of things? I need to right-size my ego and take care of the damage I am responsible for. And usually that's on my doorstep.
I agree about quitting televised news. It sets up a rhythm of anxiety provoking broadcasts that keep people from using their analytical minds. It’s hard to escape.
By all means, read the headlines to stay informed, and delve into the few that explain the situation. After an hour, max, get up and do something more productive.
Things are bad, but we have to keep functioning in a healthy manner. Look after yourself and the people close to you.
I don't have a radio (poor reception out here in the country), nor do I have a car (they cost too much).
Close to home I hear about public health departments who help children with their teeth because their parents can't afford to pay out of pocket.
"Suffer the little children to come unto Me," (says my religious leader), "for of such is the kingdom of God."
Thank you for your post.
NPR is balanced and reports from both sides of the issues. It listens to the Jews and asks them their stories and it gives voice to Palestinians who have mostly no voice anywhere else. I live in the world, I am the world, i am involved. This kind of massive tragedy ultimately affects all of us. Nobody is immune.
I just need to find my way to center myself so the grief does not overwhelm me. And who am I to complain when the war is destroying lives by the million, half of them children while i sit in the safety of my home. No complaints.
I find that listening to a radio station that broadcasts news all day is 10x more depressing than any other way to get my news.
They tend to repeat the biggest headline over and over and over again. It gets depressing because violence and major downturns are what makes headlines.
We have a radio station here that is all news all day. My buddy listens to it while driving so he can hear if any highways should be avoided. The problem is that that one depressing headline event is mentioned over and over. He tells me that he hates watching the news at home on tv... well dude that's because you're depressed from hearing it in your vehicle all day long.
So yes stay informed ... but click on the news on the internet. I pick one major local news network and click on their site and only click on the topics that interest me. Pick and choose, then close and forget.
I'm not saying be apathetic (in fact that is worse). But be realistic in how much you can care because in reality you can't change the world.
Thank you for your post.
NPR is balanced and reports from both sides of the issues. It listens to the Jews and asks them their stories and it gives voice to Palestinians who have mostly no voice anywhere else. I live in the world, I am the world, i am involved. This kind of massive tragedy ultimately affects all of us. Nobody is immune.
I just need to find my way to center myself so the grief does not overwhelm me. And who am I to complain when the war is destroying lives by the million, half of them children while i sit in the safety of my home. No complaints.
Be informed, be active. But also be honest with yourself and listen with an open mind. People also listen to the news to reinforce there personal biases and filter out those truths that do not reinforce. You have a record now of very hateful anti-semetic posts in CityData and posting assorted untruths and not accepting facts, such as the below:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny Wadd
I addressed the suffering by Palestinian residents of Gaza. You however did not address the suffering of Israel. Nor did you answer the question - why are you not addressing Hamas using Gaza residents as human shields?
Quote:
Originally Posted by cb2008
that is your opinion and interpretation. Only you believe it is truth.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny Wadd
Wait, so you are saying Hamas is not using Gaza residents as human shields and that is only my opinion and interpretation. Got it. Wow!...
Maybe it is time for you to step back from the news...
I think it's interesting to read how many here have perceived the habit-forming cycle today's style of reporting news has become to so many of us. Wish everyone had that kind of meta-perception.
Makes me think of the old habit-forming daily soap opera emotional purge. And it might serve the same purpose.
Dad used to come home for lunch and then lay on the davenport in the family room and listen to the radio news every day without fail. I never heard him once complain about the way new is presented. I guess that's because good journalism was taught in college. Report the who, what, when and then maybe add the why and how. But absolutely no emotional or personal commentary.
These days it feels like not-so-subtle brainwashing to listen to most news talk. People like it if it confirms their beliefs but do you leave the news with unanswered questions? I think it's good to have them.
Where do you get that information? Without both sides, clean of bias, just the facts, it's difficult to arrive at good decisions based on reason and not emotion. And which is more persuasive for you - how something makes you feel or how something is reasonably right? Important questions to honestly answer for yourself.
Everywhere I see people making E/I statements. Emotion over Intellect. Maybe this is a good way to start digesting your news, by asking, "Am I being emotionally manipulated?"
I think it's interesting to read how many here have perceived the habit-forming cycle today's style of reporting news has become to so many of us. Wish everyone had that kind of meta-perception.
Makes me think of the old habit-forming daily soap opera emotional purge. And it might serve the same purpose.
Dad used to come home for lunch and then lay on the davenport in the family room and listen to the radio news every day without fail. I never heard him once complain about the way new is presented. I guess that's because good journalism was taught in college. Report the who, what, when and then maybe add the why and how. But absolutely no emotional or personal commentary.
These days it feels like not-so-subtle brainwashing to listen to most news talk. People like it if it confirms their beliefs but do you leave the news with unanswered questions? I think it's good to have them.
Where do you get that information? Without both sides, clean of bias, just the facts, it's difficult to arrive at good decisions based on reason and not emotion. And which is more persuasive for you - how something makes you feel or how something is reasonably right? Important questions to honestly answer for yourself.
Everywhere I see people making E/I statements. Emotion over Intellect. Maybe this is a good way to start digesting your news, by asking, "Am I being emotionally manipulated?"
All points well taken. I avoid cable news that is all day every day with breaking news all the time. I listen to news and news programs that represent all sides with respect. Both PBS and NPR do that well. They are not all news but also interviews, programs. I also watch Face The Nation and Meet The Press on Sundays. I tape them. They ask the questions I want answers to.
I realize not all places get NPR or PBS. It is almost impossible to receive it almost anywhere in Alabama. That is a pity.
It is our responsibility to make sure we listen to all sides. Read reports.
The killings and denial of humanitarian aid is not cable news or entertainment. It is a tragedy that happening. That is not easy to brush off as propaganda.
If we dont read and listen and discriminate for ourselves we are subject to misinformation and outright lies. That is a harm we do to ourselves.
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