My friend Jeff, does a great job of tying what he’s reading in the daily news to his posts. I really enjoy reading what’s going on and his take on it. But I can’t do the same. I want to. I want to be all relevant and up to date. I want to make posts that tie directly to the things you hear happening in the news. I want to fill my posts with links galore. Credibility, don’t you know.
But.
Have you read the news lately?
A while back, I made a decision to limit my news intake. I guess it’s the old GIGO philosophy. I want to be optimistic and hopeful so I wanted to fill my brain with optimism and hope. I want to be uplifting and encouraging so I wanted to think about things that were uplifting and encouraging. Simple.
Step one: little to no nightly news. I figured that out about a year ago.
Step two: keep it a secret. I figured this out recently.
Why step two? Because people don’t understand. Because people assume I’m sheltered and fragile. Because the second I’ve told anyone that I don’t like to read or watch the news anymore because it is filled with horrible things, I can see them start to picture me in a bonnet. And although I look pretty hot in a bonnet, I just can’t tolerate the look.
However, I’m always looking to improve and I could be wrong so today I visited some news sites. Here are a few of the stories I found:
'Suicide Pact' Woman Thought It Was a Joke
Ex-Priest Shanley Gets 12-15 Years for Rape
China coal mine blast kills 203, injures 22
Lebanese Army Tightens Security in Wake of Beirut Bombing
Study: Unlikely lobsters feel pain in boiling water
I didn’t read any of them. Ok. I read the one about the lobster. Maybe lobsters don’t feel pain, but I sure do. Just the headlines depressed me. I simply cannot bring myself to read the others. I cannot, I will not fill my head with such things. At least not in the news.
It isn’t as though I’m shutting off all pain. The life I live, the lives we all live, are filled with grief and pain already. I believe in pain. I think pain and suffering are good things. But I don’t want to eat dinner while listening to them. I don’t want them popping up on my screen as important alerts as I type. I don’t want to sip green tea while reading headlines like those above.
Go ahead, call me sheltered.
Call me shallow.
Picture me in a bonnet if you have to.
And when you need comfort, optimism, hope and encouragement, come and get it. I’ll be ready.
Lobsters may not feel pain...but they sure do feel delicious.
Posted by: Ronnie | February 15, 2005 at 12:55 PM