It can feel overwhelming to try and figure out what’s important to pay attention to in the world of media.
We can get so involved in the fanfare of all the celebrations and all the traumas that are constantly portrayed on media, that we don’t even realize we need to come up for air. But when we can pull away from the buzzing and the dinging, the scrolling and the headlines, a different sort of image of the world emerges.
Kindness is always there, if you know how to look for it.
Staying informed about global and local issues has its place. But there is such a thing as over-saturation that can inadvertently offer diminishing returns to our well-being.
At a certain point, consuming information becomes less valuable than doing something about it.
I used to try and keep up with the news: local, regional, national, and global. I felt like it was my obligation to be abreast of as much of the happenings in the world as I could possibly consume in order to consider myself an informed citizen, which at the time I equated to being a ‘good adult.’
But let me tell you something about my short stint as a ‘good adult.’ It was debilitating! Not only was I only barely dipping my toe into way too many issues, no good was coming of all that information intake! Simply put, it was paralyzing and unproductive.
Every story of suffering put me into a state of mourning for lost loved ones who weren’t mine to lose. I felt a constant stream of anger for the lack of respect humans gave one another, and the more I dove in, the more it disrupted my life.
Stories the media chose to highlight weren’t my experiences, yet I felt like I was along for the ride.
By the end of a week of ‘good adulting’ (or sometimes just a day or two depending upon the headlines) I’d come up for air fully convinced that humanity was permanently and irreparably broken.
But the longer I did this, the more I came to realize something: all my efforts towards being a ‘good adult,’ were pointless unless I used them to make an impact, and making an impact didn’t need to include absorbing quite so much media. Not because the headlines didn’t matter, or those lives were invaluable, but because I had to strike a balance between doing and consuming.
What we do with our time on Earth is important AND it requires our focused attention.
Because I’m incapable of feeling complacent or disconnected when I learn of someones struggles (ah the blessings and curses of being an empath) I have been forced to find alternative ways to participate in society that don’t render me a crying heap-of-a-mess on the floor, or a walled-in angry defensive meanie head.
It means I’ve had to let down my walls, my anger, my hopelessness and my sadness, and be at peace with having a somewhat broken heart most of the time.
I can’t eliminate the suffering of others. I can’t change the lives others have been given. But I can, without too much delving into headlines and media, send a little kindness into the world and help heal our collective hearts. We all have our moments when we need to be reminded that we’re in this together.
I still avoid most headlines, and the bulk of social media, but when things do come up – in conversations or across my screen – I no longer put up walls, or fuel my anger. Instead, I let my heart break. I let it fall apart in my hands. But I don’t let it consume me.
I take a moment of silence and pay my respects to those who are suffering, and then I do something about it. We must take action at times like this; to find some way to balance out the hurt and the sadness in the world. Send out compassion, understanding, patience, and love that’s often missing in those situations, and hope with all the broken pieces of your heart, that it makes a difference.
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