This is a topic that came up in several conversations this past week. I watch minimal television these days, but it was not always the case. Eight years ago when I lived in America, the television would have celebrity gossip shows in the background. I would watch these as I either did homework or prepared dinners, not noticing how I absorbed all this excess useless knowledge and how it impacted my mental space. Yet two weeks ago, a friend sent a twenty minute video to me about gossip extrordinaire Perez Hilton. I could not even get past several minutes of this. The video seemed so loud, annoying, and pointless. How was this always part of my life? We do not always recognize the impact something has on us until that thing is removed. I recognized the reason this was so shocking to my nervous system is it’s no longer part of my life. I do not watch much television or even listen to the radio anymore. It’s solely podcasts and books, which are carefully curated to inspire and motivate me.
My body and mind seems to yearn for this quiet space. For many people initially the silence is deafening. Their problems may begin to bubble up and the inevitable feelings of loneliness. It’s easier to drown it out with noise. But what kind of life is that? What kind of life do you want to live? How can you carefully curate your input?
How do you want to live your days? If you are to have media be part of your life, what influence do you want it to have on you? Perhaps you can choose your media instead of it blindly choosing you.
It Only Takes A Smile 