Reviewing The News, Reaching For The Wine

/ Ally Bean

“I am satisfied.  Give me a bowl of wine:

I have not that alacrity of spirit,

Nor cheer of mind, that I was wont to have–

So, set it down.– Is ink and paper ready?”

~ William Shakespeare, King Richard III

• • •

USUALLY I’M GOOD AT knowing what I’m thinking and feeling about things.  Clarity of thought.  Sense of purpose.  Focus on what matters now.

Me.  Most of the time.

But the news of these last few weeks has worn me down.  Made me wonder about humanity.  Made me want to stay in my jammies all day, hiding in the back of the closet, playing Candy Crush.

• • •

First we talked about:

Ebola, and the CDC + Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas‘s half-assed handling of said at a time when everyone in the USA needed them to do things properly.

Then we were inundated with: 

Mitch McConnell [or Old Turkey Neck as he’s known in this house], and his daily TV political attack ads against his opponent, a woman with a gun who seems to scare the bejesus out of him.

Followed by:

Gamergate, and the blatant misogynistic attacks on woman associated with it under the guise of fair journalistic practices.

Then all of this took center stage:

Renee Zellweger, and the incessant opining about the reasons why she did what she did + about the results of what she did.

Culminating in:

The Parliament of Canada, and the unforeseen attack on it leading to the world’s newest isn’t-he-amazing hero who saved lives by calmly doing what needed to be done.

• • •

SO MY POINT HERE?  After hearing and reading about all the above, I’m tired, emotionally.  I’m tired, physically.

I’m just plain tired.

I have to wonder if keeping up with the news is what I need to be doing with my time.  While the well-educated rational side of me says “stay informed,” the sensitive empathetic side of me says “ignore.”  The cognitive dissonance is beginning to get to me.

Leading me to contemplate how I can do both when the agenda-setting function of the media gives me bad news everywhere that I turn.  Except in my closet, of course.  Where you may just find me, with my bowl of wine.

Waiting for my alacrity of spirit to return.

30 thoughts on “Reviewing The News, Reaching For The Wine”

  1. Oh, I so agree with you! I too am so tired of all the negativity in the news about everyone and everything. I really don’t want to listen anymore, but like you too,I feel like I should listen at least sometimes to know what is going on in the world. Don’t these evil people have anything else to do?

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    • Beth, it’s odd because I like to know what’s happening in the world [curiosity] but lately I feel overwhelmed by it all [kind heart]. Don’t know what my solution is exactly, but I will figure it out. Or go live in the back of our closet!

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  2. I certainly hope you do not lose the spirit permanently. But a little time off certainly doesn’t hurt. Perhaps your “friend” the remote is actually doing you a big favor. And you remind me that I should get back to reading Shakespeare again. Not that his world was any more uplifting, but he sure makes it sound more artistic.

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    • Zen-Den, you make a good point about me and my frenemy, the Time-Warner remote control from hell. And I agree, Willy Shakes makes everything sound better than it is.

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  3. I haven’t willingly watched the news in years, and am much happier for it. I my opninion, watching the news does not equate to “staying informed”… it is just keeping up on the world the ratings driven media wants us to think really exists. We all know that crap is king, give us dirty laundry!

    I can not believe it took the media five years to find the next “great worldwide pandemic” that is going to “kill us all” after the great swine flu outbreak of 2009 wiped us all off the map. They must be slipping…

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    • evilsquirrel13, you offer wise advice. The media is all ratings driven. In fact, I don’t feel informed after watching/reading about 80% of what I watch and read. So I guess that I shouldn’t do that, huh?

      Had forgotten about good ole swine flu. Miracle of miracles we are all still here ready to be destroyed by ebola, this year’s menace of choice.

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  4. I hear you. I’m tempted to never read or watch the news again. But then I think that’s not right–I owe it to others to know what’s going on. Plus, I’m not sure I’d like being in the dark. So I compromise. I don’t read or watch news on the weekend. This helps lighten things a bit, at least for a couple days.

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    • Carrie, I like your idea of no news on the weekends. Smart thinking. That’s easily doable and might help me feel less like “the sky is falling, the sky is falling” all the time. Thanks for the idea.

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  5. This is why I stopped watching the news years ago. I am not totally uninformed, I do hear about major events (and yet somehow missed the Renee Zellweger story – how is that possible?) but every new shooting or major stupidity just seems to suck my soul out of me. And as evilsquirrel noted, the media sensationalism makes it even worse.

    As a female gamer, the whole #gamergate thing just blows my mind. Still, this is a relatively small group of people who need to be taken seriously and arrested – but is the media hype helping or just giving them the attention they want?

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    • Zazzy, I think that I pay too much attention to news stories that capture my attention. Most of politics I ignore, unless the subject is thrown at me every day. Most of Hollywood I ignore, but this RZ topic has been chit-chat fodder everywhere I go.

      And as for gamergate, I can’t look away from it. It’s truly one of those WTF-is-going-on-here stories. I feel like I’m rubbernecking an accident on the highway, but I just keep looking at news articles about it.

      No answer to your smart question, btw.

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  6. There’s nothing wrong with turning off the television, and not checking the twitter & facebook feeds. Self care is important, and sometimes I reckon we need a break. My father actually cannot watch the news – it triggers too much anxiety, and so he simply keeps it off.

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    • Catherine, you are so right. Somehow during these last few weeks I’ve gotten sucked into too many negative sensationalized news reports and articles. It’s just amazing to me how unsettled and confused I’ve become. I need to keep my distance from such things and now that I’m more aware, will do so.

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  7. I find sometimes it is best just to shut all of the noise out when there is just too much. We have too much of it with social media and the 24 hour news channel.

    In other news, our Canadian hero is from my hometown. He is old school and is made of tough stuff. It is good to know that when the going gets tough there are people still in this world willing to take a stand to protect others.

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  9. I feel that it’s important for me to stay informed(except about Renee Z.), but cut myself off if it’s making me too upset. When Ashley was in West Africa, I avoided stories about ebola, although they were certainly there if I wanted to read them. I don’t watch the news; I always read the newspaper or internet, so it’s easier to control my exposure. The school shooting in Washington today is causing me to avoid the media; these attacks are very personal and painful for educators. Our school is our home and the students our extended family. My heart hurts.

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    • Margaret, I read and watch a variety of news sources so that I get all sorts of different facts and points of view. I refuse to be an ostrich with her head in the sand, but I also am beginning to realize that I need to limit my exposure to news stories. That I can do.

      The problem is how do you get the people in your life to shut up about the news… and their various opinions and understandings of what is going on? That can be as crazy-making as actual news stories. ‘Ya know?! 😉

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      • Oh, yes, I do know! I try to tactfully change the subject or ask a question about something random, like, “By the way, before I forget, what’s the best way to grow x plant? Where’s the best place to buy x product? Do you know how to do x or y? I’m needing some help with x. Any ideas?” 🙂

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  10. And if those don’t work, I laugh and say in a self-mocking way, “I’ve put myself on news restriction because I was getting obsessed with x. ” I make it about me and not them. Finally, if that doesn’t work, I excuse myself to use the “facilities” whether I have to or not. 🙂

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  11. Oh Ally Bean I so get it! It can just get so exhausting, listening to the news…and so much “bad” news, too. We don’t have a TV and that really helps. I stay *partially* informed by reading the headlines on CNN here on line. It feels like one foot in the “staying informed” line and one foot in the “relaxed but a bit ignorant at times” aisle. Good luck!

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    • Kathy, you’ve described the difficulties well. I like to know what’s going on… except when I don’t. And like you said, the news is all so exhausting. I need to find a happy medium, which now that I’ve started thinking about this conundrum, I hope that I will.

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