Once upon a time I took a meditation class. This came at the suggestion of one of my friends (and coworker) who suggested that I was wound a skosh too tight, and could benefit from some "time out". To her credit, she at least had the decency to take the class with me. We sat on little carpet squares and tried to quiet our minds.
Ok, to be fair, it was a good and useful class, so I can hate on her too much.
Why am I telling you this? Well, as part of the class, the instructor told us to stop reading the newspaper and stop watching the television news.
At first I wasn't sure I could do it. I'm an avid reader and I like to know what's going on.
She reasoned that if there was something we needed to know, someone would tell us.
So I heeded that advice and over time found it was true. I was a lot calmer not knowing every little freaky thing that was going on that the media then blows up to epic proportions. There is a LOT of bad news in the world and the media thrives. "If it bleeds, it leads."
I was content not to know the latest, and yes, folks always find a way to tell you what's going on. It ended up being pretty good advice.
Lately I've been slipping back. I find myself reading the online versions of the local newspapers and scanning the Yahoo headlines frequently. And I can tell, I'm getting a bit bewildered by the world again.
I am a bit frazzled today as I have a LOT of meetings and to add to the fun, our organization is moving locations, so I have to be totally packed by end of today.
I needed a break from the insanity and I tuned in to SFGate.com to see what's doing.
Here's the headlines that greet me (actual cut and paste from this afternoon's page):
Rape Suspect Phones Victim
Boy's Skull Broken In Schoolyard
Apartment Fire Kills Boy
Europe Copes With Pump Prices
Pizza-Killing Charges Dropped
Woman clung to body to stay alive
This does not put me at ease! This does not help me be calm!
The only somewhat "good news" item is this:
Whale Wanders Into The Bay
Article says, "To the delight of onlookers, a cetacean spent the morning swimming between Fort Baker and the G.G. Bridge."
I'm sure soon enough everyone will be freaked out that the little guy is lost and he'll probably ground himself and we'll get ongoing coverage of a dead and rotting whale.
Sure could use a little good news today…
Oooooooooohm!
