A Facebook friend asked the following question in a post on his timeline:
How are YOU maintaining a positive perspective?
This is how I responded:
Not easy, but these help: limiting my intake of news; listening to uplifting music; singing; walking; meditating.
Not even an hour later I happened across this cartoon, which absolutely nails it! This is exactly the challenge that I feel so many of us are facing.
But I’m realizing that I can’t simply ignore the news altogether. True, I need to stop reading it with the goal of “making sense” of things; I mean, that way lies madness!
So, yes, I have to do my best to sort through the false, sensationalist, crazy-making narratives. And then I have to choose carefully which articles to read, being prepared to stop as soon as I feel my energy plunge or if I start to get upset or depressed or sunk in negativity. Because I can’t be part of the solution if I’m upset, depressed, and negative!
But you know, I think the main reason why I still need to read some news is a matter of solidarity. I don’t want to cut myself off from what’s going on. Sure, I have to honor the limits of my tolerance for violence and despair, but I need to tune in enough to feel connected with the rest of humanity as we move through these unprecedented times…together.