Even if Trump doesn’t get elected, he has already helped me. Clinton, too.
Before this election cycle I tended to avoid the news. I don’t watch much TV anyway. It is too commercial-rich to deserve my attention. But, even before this bit of media dieting, I really stayed away from any of the news programs.
The news on CNN, ABC, Fox and the like was just one long script what’s wrong with this world. War, disease, death, destruction, famine, poverty and the Kardashians. And, the local news is even worse.
So, I dropped the TV out of my media diet like it was junk food.
I used to listen to Sports Radio. But, waiting through 10 minutes of commercials just to hear some whiny arm-chair quarterback criticize the moves of a head coach felt like slow-death. Did I really wait just to hear this? I want my 10 minutes back!
So, I put the Sports Radio right next to the Diet Coke in the trash.
I still wanted to stay up-to-date on current events.
So, on my browser I set up buttons to Fox and CNN. May as well get both sides of the story right? And this way, I could selectively choose what bad news I wanted to focus on. After a while I didn’t even notice the banner ads. Problem solved. Or, so I thought.
Every election we get sick of the negative ads and accusations. And, the lack of any clear-cut policy agendas about what they will do to save us. But, this year was different.
Trump and Clinton have to have brought our election process to an all time low. Now I didn’t even want to go on to the Internet for my news. Put aside the fact that we must be the laughing stock of the world right now with these two clowns. I just couldn't look at this political crash landing of an election any longer.
So, I removed the Fox and CNN buttons off my browser.
I thought I would miss out on so much. Didn't happen. It is hard not to hear what is going on in the world without becoming stranded on a deserted island somewhere.
What did happen?
At first, I kind felt disconnected. Like, I didn't know what was going on. Like I really needed to know every few hours. But, that feeling didn't last.
After a couple of days, I didn't even notice if I was missing anything. Between friends, families, newspaper headlines and social media I was getting all I needed. It actually felt liberating. And, I felt like my day-to-day became more meaningful. And, hopeful. But then something really interesting happened.
Walking by a TV one day something grabbed my attention. Of course it was a bad story about a bad person who did a bad thing. I stopped and watched. And, then got caught in the next featured disaster.
It was the same positive-mood draining info featuring a Debby Downer that made Eeyore look like a motivational speaker. It was just one negative story after another. It started to turn better when the weatherman reported sunshine for the day. But, even he couldn't help but bring us down by turning to a rainy forecast for the next day. I walked away shaking my head.
Within minutes I started to feel sick like I just gorged on a Big Mac and Fries. Ugh! I guess my tolerance for this media swill had diminished. So, it is back on the Trump/Clinton Media Diet again. And, a return to hopefulness.
What has your experience been?
At first, I kind felt disconnected. Like, I didn't know what was going on. Like I really needed to know every few hours. But, that feeling didn't last.
After a couple of days, I didn't even notice if I was missing anything. Between friends, families, newspaper headlines and social media I was getting all I needed. It actually felt liberating. And, I felt like my day-to-day became more meaningful. And, hopeful. But then something really interesting happened.
Walking by a TV one day something grabbed my attention. Of course it was a bad story about a bad person who did a bad thing. I stopped and watched. And, then got caught in the next featured disaster.
It was the same positive-mood draining info featuring a Debby Downer that made Eeyore look like a motivational speaker. It was just one negative story after another. It started to turn better when the weatherman reported sunshine for the day. But, even he couldn't help but bring us down by turning to a rainy forecast for the next day. I walked away shaking my head.
Within minutes I started to feel sick like I just gorged on a Big Mac and Fries. Ugh! I guess my tolerance for this media swill had diminished. So, it is back on the Trump/Clinton Media Diet again. And, a return to hopefulness.
What has your experience been?
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