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Turning Down the Volume

I wear a seatbelt.  A helmet when I bike.  I brush my teeth, exercise five days per week, watch my caloric intake.  I go for my annual physical.  My semi-annual pap smears and mammograms.  Teeth cleanings.

I do so many things to protect my body, and then I dive head-first into Twitter.

It’s not fair to put all the blame on Twitter.  It’s Facebook, too.  And blogs.  And conversations with friends.  And news alerts.  And newspapers.  It’s the world in general.  I feel like I do all these things to protect my physical self, but do nothing to protect my emotional self.

It is hard out there.  It’s always hard, but it feels like not only are the events coming fast and furious, but social media has made the events sound so loud.  There are the events themselves, and then there are the verbal responses to said events.  And then there are the verbal responses to the verbal responses.

I finally took a deep breath and started meditating with an app.  It doesn’t really help, but I’m sure that the response to that statement is that I haven’t stuck with it long enough.  Or I’m doing it wrong.  One or the other.

Playing ostrich and shutting out important conversations about race and gun control and the economy and bigotry isn’t a real solution.  But it feels so loud right now; even the statements I agree with feel like they’re being screamed.

Maybe it has to be screamed. Maybe that’s the only way change occurs.

7 comments

1 Lori Lavender Luz { 02.25.18 at 11:38 am }

This is a conundrum I am aware of, too. I kinda get that the only person I can control (and sometimes change) is myself. But how does little ole me make peaceful ripples that mean anything in the big picture?

I do put boundaries around what I will and won’t let into my peace. I want to stay informed about how people are perceiving hot issues, but I don’t want to allow my inner peace to be put in jeopardy because of it. It requires mindfulness and discernment about what is and isn’t healthy for me.

2 Cristy { 02.25.18 at 11:41 am }

I recently read an article about how the creators of Facebook and Twitter have both deleted their accounts and banned their children from having these accounts. The reasoning is that social media in its current form is toxic. It’s one thing to allow for free speech and opinion sharing, but we are seeing human nature at its worst with the goal of the trolls to divide and create friction. It’s like having people wearing masks at a protest: their goal is to pick fights and derail any meaningful conversation.

As far as the meditation app, I don’t think you are doing it wrong. But it did take me about a month before I recognized the benefits

3 Jill A. { 02.25.18 at 7:23 pm }

I’m a political/news junkie. In 2016, during the campaigning, I hid all my bookmarks and favorite sites. I couldn’t bring myself to delete them, but I put them all in one folder and then put the folder in another folder, and again. Now, to get to the NYT or Washington Post, I have to click through Bookmarks, Clippings, Recipes, Vegetables, Hiding, and finally the NYT or Post. It broke my habit of being able to one click on any of them. Huff Post, American Conservative, The Atlantic. Took me about 4 weeks to get over the withdrawal. Then I started reading some here and there again, deciding what gave me good info or bad feelings. The whole process is like finding a food allergy. Cut out everything and then try little bits until you know what you can tolerate and what you can’t.

As for the meditation, my guess is you haven’t been at it long enough to know what works for you. It took you longer than one week or one month to get yoga, to understand your smart phone, even to learn how it is best, for you, to brush your teeth. Hang with it, if it seems worthwhile to you, and reevaluate in six or eight weeks. Good Luck!

4 torthuil { 02.25.18 at 10:37 pm }

I feel like so much media these days is shallow and annoying people gossiping. I tune in every now and then but I have zero guilt tuning it out. I believe that decent people living their lives with integrity make the world a better place and you (everyone) can totally do that without media.

5 Mali { 02.25.18 at 11:07 pm }

I truly don’t know how you guys in the US are coping right now. I find myself getting angry and frustrated and it’s not even my country.

But I think being selective about what we read, from where, and how much we read, and when, can help us control our emotions. It is important to give ourselves a break, to focus on what’s good in our lives, and to simply breathe. I think the meditation app is a good start! Though I would have thought after yoga you’d find it easy. Give yourself time, and find what works for you. I like the guided meditations, focusing on my body or sensations, and on breathing.

6 Geochick { 02.26.18 at 1:04 pm }

yes yes yes yes. I am the same way. I have to take breaks, especially from Twitter. Facebook, most of the people I pay attention to don’t really do too much politically and those that do are on my side, which makes it easier. The last shooting though? I haven’t read much, and I didn’t go on any social media except Instagram for a week. I had to let it go, let it die down. I’m so tired of social media outrage not amounting to change.

Also, I do all the physical things too and need to download a meditation app. Or something.

7 loribeth { 03.01.18 at 5:19 pm }

I find I can take Twitter or leave it. I will go on & read for a half hour and then I don’t look again for two days. I’m more addicted to Facebook, but I have unfollowed several of the (cough) more annoying people in my feed whose politics I don’t agree with. That’s helped a lot.

(c) 2006 Melissa S. Ford
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