Media induced mind clutter and a simple matrix

July 12, 2007

I am a proponent of staying current, keeping my mind sharp and being active in the smaller and larger communities I belong to. I am also a victim of information abundance. From a personal high level of interest in all things, I create and allow distractive environments to fester. I think I will feel better with less. The other day I worked out the problem somewhat. I was feeling drained by so many things. My trouble was that it was too easy to become consumed of all bad things happening in the world and though I have compassion for most of it, I have nothing to offer to change or improve the situation.

I don’t believe that it’s best for any individual to take the burden of the world’s problems to bed with him every night. When I say that I also must stress that we all must practice compassion, truly practice it daily. We can’t ignore suffering because “hey at least it’s not me this time!”

Even having compassion, can we still understand the complexities and hidden arguments of so many issues we’re exposed to. Sometimes the right choice may be to throw it out entirely. Let others work it out. There is no foul on ignoring one thing in order to focus on more meaningful choices. Here is my matrix for dealing with the burden of media, news and world issues.

You may find that effectively dealing with the over-abundance means cutting out everything that falls outside the marked category in the matrix above. If it affects you and you can do something about it (and you actually will) you will feel better overall, and experience less drain. Outside the marked realm, you are consuming interesting news stories that might cause pain or eat at your valuable time. Practice ignoring things outside the marked realm, yet remain compassionately detached.

Quick Example:

You read a story that a man dies by suicide, having jumped from a major city landmark near you. (This actually happened yesterday.) Unless you knew the person, it falls outside the realm of the matrix. It’s very sad and tragic, AND has the components of a newsworthy event in many people’s minds. Even geographically, you want to even say that it affected you. This story carries a burden with it. But instead of carrying the burden, you spend time interacting with one of your neighbors, creating a positive experience that you can take to bed with you. A lift instead of a burden. It’s an interesting life question isn’t it? Are we better off not knowing about tragedies? One can’t measure what the knowledge of a tragedy does to a person, when that person can’t do anything about it.

Cut off from many info sources, means extra time and life experience gained elsewhere. Be mindful over the next few days when you are reading or watching news. Where does each story fall within the matrix? Is there a sense that much of the “conflict” of the news is contrived, manipulated to appeal to your senses? What does this do to your well being? Is it time to detach from that source of news? Might you live better without it? My bet is that I probably will.

Things I’m doing:

Not watching TV news (Already do this)
Removing 60-80% of news sources from feedreader
Being mindful as I read the stories that filter down to me, fostering selectivity.
Meditate on what I can and can’t affect.
Reading books, to gain more complete knowledge to facilitate good decisions
Focus on benefits of experience with a person over reading news of past event I can’t control.

Posted in learning, media