Boy, do I know this one. I force myself to listen to the news and read the newspaper. Otherwise, I’d spend all my educational time listening to writing podcasts, TED talks, Fresh Air, Modern Love, Sanjay Gupta’s Chasing Life, or Anderson Cooper’s Is That All There Is. Though the latter is far from cheery.
Like you, I want to be well informed and know what’s going on in the world. But so many terrible things are happening now that I can’t bear it. I haven’t been able to listen to a word of the new nuclear arms race in space. Everything is too scary now.
I can only listen to the news when I’m working out — steer all that stress and strength into managing the news — and sweating out the bad news.
I also think a lot about our children and the direction of this country and the world. Makes me sad and worried. I’d rather be an ostrich too but that would be more harmful. I have to take my news in small and measured amounts.
Small and measured is exactly the right approach. I love the working out strategy too! And agree with the worry for our adult children; the world we are passing along is not in very good shape. But that should help keep us motivated to take the best care we can, while we can. ❤️
I keep up with news, mainly through online news sites & podcasts. I have a natural interest in geopolitical...stuff?...and topics that I follow, so it's not a chore to me. I try to get different perspectives, so I'll read or listen to views of events from different political viewpoints and from different countries. I think its just an extension of loving history-- I want to know the history I'm living through.
I know many people prefer to focus on what is local & in front of them, which is also admirable, honestly, and probably gives them more hours & peace in their days.
Thanks Erin for letting me know how you manage the news! I have never been much of a history person, which is too bad given that I've moved to a country with so many years of history! But digging into the context about the issues we are all faced with these days of course means history. It has been interesting to get my news from so many different countries now, more so than I took the time to do when I lived in the US. I've checked out our local Island paper but it makes me cranky as it is all about burglaries and car accidents and general bad behaviour. Hopefully your local papers are more positive.
Oh, no, our local papers are all crimes and tragedies, too! Maybe who bought what building downtown to lighten it a bit. And we don't have a robust local press like we used to, which is how it's gone in most of the U.S., outside of major metro areas.
I loved this fly-on-the-wall account of your observations of the Royal Courts of Justice, Sabrina - absolutely fascinating.
I have an unhealthy obsession with the news dating back (I think) to the start of the Covid pandemic, and the desperate urge I had to seek out any information I could to keep us safe. I hate that I still 'need' to know what's going on.
My parents have an interesting approach - they avoid the news apps, and every night they record the six o'clock TV news bulletin and fast-forward all the bits they don't want to know about.
My news highlight of the week though comes on a Saturday - we buy one physical newspaper a week, and I really enjoy it. It's great, actually - it takes me days (sometimes over a week) to get through all the sections, and it's really fun to read old news with the benefit of knowing what's happened since. Crazy? Probably. I think perhaps I'll try to phase out my unhealthy app-access of live news in favour of just sticking to my Saturday paper!
Such a thought-provoking read - thanks, Sabrina. 😊
I may have mentioned in the past that I made an active choice to no longer listen.
It drags me down and that is not how I want to live my life for my family, my friends and for me.
If anything biggish happens it seems to infect our tiny isolated island on the arse-end of the world by osmosis. But I shut it off quickly. It's amazing how one can keep up with world events and shut it off very quickly if one chooses.
I listen to fiction, read fiction (except for Substacks that I love) and watch mostly fiction. (Although we do like special documentaries.) It's enough. After many years of imbibing news and reading history, I am now of the opinion that the world has learned nothing, so why not get on and live as quality a life as one can?
Am I ignorant? Possibly. Probably. Am I generally content? Mostly. It's enough...
I’m with you on how I consume my news and how much I consume at any one time. I try to stay informed but I also try to protect my emotional wellbeing and mental health. And I realize how fortunate I am that I can do that and have that option.
Boy, do I know this one. I force myself to listen to the news and read the newspaper. Otherwise, I’d spend all my educational time listening to writing podcasts, TED talks, Fresh Air, Modern Love, Sanjay Gupta’s Chasing Life, or Anderson Cooper’s Is That All There Is. Though the latter is far from cheery.
Like you, I want to be well informed and know what’s going on in the world. But so many terrible things are happening now that I can’t bear it. I haven’t been able to listen to a word of the new nuclear arms race in space. Everything is too scary now.
I can only listen to the news when I’m working out — steer all that stress and strength into managing the news — and sweating out the bad news.
I also think a lot about our children and the direction of this country and the world. Makes me sad and worried. I’d rather be an ostrich too but that would be more harmful. I have to take my news in small and measured amounts.
Small and measured is exactly the right approach. I love the working out strategy too! And agree with the worry for our adult children; the world we are passing along is not in very good shape. But that should help keep us motivated to take the best care we can, while we can. ❤️
Yes, thank you for the wise reminder. There's a lot to do ahead of us to make it a better place.
I keep up with news, mainly through online news sites & podcasts. I have a natural interest in geopolitical...stuff?...and topics that I follow, so it's not a chore to me. I try to get different perspectives, so I'll read or listen to views of events from different political viewpoints and from different countries. I think its just an extension of loving history-- I want to know the history I'm living through.
I know many people prefer to focus on what is local & in front of them, which is also admirable, honestly, and probably gives them more hours & peace in their days.
Thanks Erin for letting me know how you manage the news! I have never been much of a history person, which is too bad given that I've moved to a country with so many years of history! But digging into the context about the issues we are all faced with these days of course means history. It has been interesting to get my news from so many different countries now, more so than I took the time to do when I lived in the US. I've checked out our local Island paper but it makes me cranky as it is all about burglaries and car accidents and general bad behaviour. Hopefully your local papers are more positive.
Oh, no, our local papers are all crimes and tragedies, too! Maybe who bought what building downtown to lighten it a bit. And we don't have a robust local press like we used to, which is how it's gone in most of the U.S., outside of major metro areas.
I loved this fly-on-the-wall account of your observations of the Royal Courts of Justice, Sabrina - absolutely fascinating.
I have an unhealthy obsession with the news dating back (I think) to the start of the Covid pandemic, and the desperate urge I had to seek out any information I could to keep us safe. I hate that I still 'need' to know what's going on.
My parents have an interesting approach - they avoid the news apps, and every night they record the six o'clock TV news bulletin and fast-forward all the bits they don't want to know about.
My news highlight of the week though comes on a Saturday - we buy one physical newspaper a week, and I really enjoy it. It's great, actually - it takes me days (sometimes over a week) to get through all the sections, and it's really fun to read old news with the benefit of knowing what's happened since. Crazy? Probably. I think perhaps I'll try to phase out my unhealthy app-access of live news in favour of just sticking to my Saturday paper!
Such a thought-provoking read - thanks, Sabrina. 😊
I may have mentioned in the past that I made an active choice to no longer listen.
It drags me down and that is not how I want to live my life for my family, my friends and for me.
If anything biggish happens it seems to infect our tiny isolated island on the arse-end of the world by osmosis. But I shut it off quickly. It's amazing how one can keep up with world events and shut it off very quickly if one chooses.
I listen to fiction, read fiction (except for Substacks that I love) and watch mostly fiction. (Although we do like special documentaries.) It's enough. After many years of imbibing news and reading history, I am now of the opinion that the world has learned nothing, so why not get on and live as quality a life as one can?
Am I ignorant? Possibly. Probably. Am I generally content? Mostly. It's enough...
I’m with you on how I consume my news and how much I consume at any one time. I try to stay informed but I also try to protect my emotional wellbeing and mental health. And I realize how fortunate I am that I can do that and have that option.