Media and news absorption is something I put under the microscope back in 2020 when the news from the world felt like too much to take in.
I took advice at the time from a wise #yoga teacher, Max Strom, who’s book A Life Worth Breathing helped me heal during #burnout
"Listen or read the news once per week- no more. You will notice a difference in your nervous system in just a few days, and you'll be surprised at what an addiction it can be. From my own observation of myself and others, I believe that one of the most insidious sources of anxiety and stress is watching the news every day..... Why do we religiously overflow ourselves with such dark images of crisis?"
But does this means we should be in denial about our world’s problems?
No, of course not.
It was a hard balance for me as my future was taking me back to my education which involved hours of researching online trends.
My degree in #sociology I always underestimated as was once asked “What are you going to do with a degree in behavioural sciences!?”
“Study people so I can analyse their behaviours, mimic them, while leaving the rest to good luck and my charming looks…?” was my 🙄 response.
So far that’s worked out in my favour but someday the luck will run out and appearances do fade.
At the time I needed to figure out how to add my interests in volunteer work and find where I could best be of service. Taking to the waves of social media helped me build a new network of like-minded folks on the same paths.
I steered my time online to help preach to the masses the need to reform our governments. All of them.
And for our immediate futures. I decided any time I was to spend online, it would be to share my passion for wanting to change the world.
My tone is not for the weak and feeble as I will always use my writing to invoke emotions. Namely those in opposition to me seem to be my biggest fans.
Max continues,
"Take action and do what you can do to help. But … do not obsess about the negative.... This way you can stay informed but not in a constant state of anxiety..... One of the most important contributions we can make to a troubled world is to give it more love, hope and joy.”
The actions we can take besides giving our time for humanitarian help, is giving the world a bit more hope. Humans doing good human things.
In stillness we find solace. Simply closing my eyes and taking in a deep conscious breath is enough to put me in any given present moment.
But then poof, the moment is gone and it’s a battle to stay in such a mindset with various distractions spoon fed to us.
For me, I was lucky with a paid opportunity to slow down thanks to great social and employer benefits in place. Here was why I was able to fully rest. My body had time to heal and process the emotions.
I had ample #mentalhealth resources in place and was supervised with professionals in a long term capacity.
My story is a successful one. But it didn’t come without heartache. So much loss and proverbial deaths in relationships, also covering the relationship I had with mySelf.
My success is attributed to rest. I simply learned how to start listening to my body and intuition. This is a normal phenomenon once we undergo serious emotionally traumatic events. It took me decades to learn this.
Thank you for sharing this journey with me.