No News Is Just Plain Great!
Recently in The Message, Bishop Joseph M. Siegel recommended unplugging from the news as an effective way to begin regaining a sense of control over the emotions and stresses associated with the ways our culture has devolved when it comes to dealing with conflict.
Over the past 3-4 months, I haven’t watched any news that wasn’t the local weather forecast or ongoing coverage of severe weather on The Weather Channel. I’m not only a weather geek, but also an amateur radio license holder who trained as a storm spotter when I lived in “tornado alley” (i.e. eastern Kansas).
Funny things have happened since that decision to avoid the news. Most importantly, I rest better at night than I had for quite some time. I slept before, but I woke up feeling as though I’d been up most of the night. My mind wasn’t resting even though I was asleep. Waking up in the morning feeling rested – again – is wonderful.
Prayer plays a bigger role in my day-to-day life, too. I live alone; and my dachshund, Ruby, has never been much for real conversation; so I do spend time “connected” every day.
After vacillating on the decision literally for months, I also picked up an Amazon Kindle. We all know people who are quick to assert their preferences for “real books.” These tired old eyes like being able to get the “senior” type size on any digital book I decide to read. It’s also been enjoyable checking out digital subscriptions to a variety of magazines. My basic Kindle doesn’t do magazines so well, but the Kindle app on my tablet brings digital magazines to life. The newsstand editions of “Astronomy” and “Sky & Telescope” magazines have never looked this good.
The medium that attracted me to journalism was radio. I still remember – vividly – the excitement I felt when the shortwave radio Dad got from Fingerhut mail order introduced me to the midnight station identification from the BBC World Service, which included Big Ben tolling the start of a new day – live, but an ocean away. Heck, it was only 7 o’clock in the evening where I lived, and the ability to close the distance between two continents amazed me; it still does.
Today, thanks to amateur radio technology and the internet, there is a mode of digital voice communication called DStar that enables me to connect with other “hams” literally all over the world from my living room, using nothing more than a walkie-talkie and a deck-of-cards-sized computer with wifi and UHF transceiver. My signal goes from the handheld radio to the computer, and across the Internet to stations around the globe.
And then, there’s YouTube. From Pope Francis to Bishop Robert Barron to TV shows from when I was a kid, YouTube offers me more than I could ever digest without an iota of stress or anger-producing conflict. It’s wonderful.
I point this out because I sense that many people find themselves apprehensive when considering the concept of avoiding news in all its forms. If you are such a person … be not afraid. As I said at the start, no news is just plain great.
