I will start by saying that I am certainly not a follower of the news in any way. I may collide with it on occasion as it is thrust in my face by someone who thinks I absolutely must know, but frankly, I get along just fine without it. Yes, there are (at least) two very different schools of thought on whether people should keep themselves up with the news, but I usually find it to be the same old stories any time I check in:
- The world political situation is in a dire state
- There is some country or another which has been neglected by the “worlds’ eye” for years and has suddenly come into the spotlight as corrupted and oppressive to its people
- Some celebrity or another is getting married/divorced(again), fat, pregnant, cheated on etc...
- Some small country is trying to buff up its arsenal (nuclear or what have you)
- The big countries are wagging their fingers at the little one saying they can’t buff their arsenal (because we’re the cool kids and only we can have those toys)
- America has its dirty fingers in someone else’s oil (or is thinking about it)
- Hundreds of thousands of people go starving and without education and healthcare
- And for a change of pace, there are some do gooders out there trying to make a difference so we put them on TV to make sure people don’t think its all bad news.
- Pet story, a sweet dog was rescued by a brave fireman which melts all of our hearts upon seeing the footage and helps to smooth over the creases that the bad news put into our day.
It seems that it has been this way for as long as I can recall (which pales in comparison to some), and I am sure it has been the case long before my own arrival. So, my choice to live without TV and its insidious advertising and saddening news just reflects my wish to have a little influence over my daily environment. Even without TV and radio and reading the news online, I still heard about 9/11. That was a big one- there was no way to escape hearing of it. I figure if something really big happens, the news will find me but I need not seek it out.
I know what many of you must be thinking. How ignorant! How naive! Perhaps even how stupid! How can I possibly participate in the world as a whole if I have no idea what’s going on? Well, there are only two things in this life that I can control. I can control my own actions to things, and I can control my own reactions to things. I cannot control what the world leaders do, but I can manage what I do in return in whatever small way that is (ahem, boycott Monsanto). It is my firm belief that if people spent more time focusing on what good they can do with their reactions on a small level, then it would have an overwhelmingly positive affect on the entire world scale.
If each person could just start with themselves- for example, I failed a test. Instead of reacting badly and cursing myself or putting myself down, I could choose to react in a positive loving way. I could choose to love myself enough to do better next time so that I could feel a sense of pride and accomplishment and so that I could proceed and excel in my life. Most people are stuck there. They aren’t present enough
to react well to themselves, and so any reactions or actions toward the outer world are no better than they can deal with themselves.
The next challenge is acting and reacting lovingly and understandingly toward one’s family. This is where many more of us are stalled. It is so difficult! And that is definite truth! It is not easy to always be kind and mindful of others and for them to do the same for us. So if we cannot help but argue and fight and put-down or clash egos within our own families with people of our own blood, how on Earth can we expect cities and states and countries and governments to get along well?
The only answer I have is that we have to try, and starting on the most basic level- ourselves. For nothing changes unless we change from within. Once we plant that seed inside our hearts, those around us can see the flowers begin to bloom, and upon seeing such a beautiful garden, the hope is that it will inspire others to cultivate their own, until, one by one, the whole world has changed and we can direct our lives and societies and civilization and planet from a place of wholeness instead of fragmentation. I believe once that happens, a change so brilliant will be in front of us that we will all but forget the old ways of selfishness and enemies and we will see and treat the Earth as the heaven that it was meant to be for us and all creatures.
Amen Halleluja etc etc!
~Momrit ;)
P.S. I hope it doesn’t take 500 years...though it seems it easily could.
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