I used to read the news. At all times of the day and night. I used to perseverate upon every new headline and breaking story. For years I did this. And I wasn’t really sure how to stop. I knew that it wasn’t healthy for me. I knew that it wasn’t “life affirming” or giving me much hope for the future, and yet I did it. Constantly.
For a long time I thought I did it because I wanted to know what other people think, but that wasn’t quite the truth. Instead, I read the news religiously because I wanted to know what I thought. I wanted to see all of the takes on the day’s information and simply understand it enough to form a coherent opinion. And yet, these coherent opinions didn’t make me happy. They didn’t bring new relationships into my life or deepen the ones that I already have. Rather, these coherent opinions crowded out my days.
They stopped me from having time to read any long work of fiction. They halted my ability to see other people as anything other than someone playing for the Red team or the Blue team. They made me disregard the fact that we are all just trying to survive in a modern world filled with infinite distractions. My opinions about the news, even more than the news itself, were the reason why I couldn’t sleep at night. They are the reason why I was considering moving to a different country. They are the reason why I was so incredibly angry all the time.
But, I’m not reading the news right now. At least, not most of the time. I read a single article about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. I read a single newsletter analysis on the dismissal of the confidential documents case in Florida. I watched a single video of Jon Stewart attempting to explain the madness that was the RNC.
I haven’t scrolled Twitter or Threads. I haven’t looked at TikTok or Instagram Reels. I haven’t looked up the latest poll numbers or tried to wade into the waters of “will he or won’t he” drop out of the race (Joe Biden, if that wasn’t clear). I haven’t tried to learn more about the ways in which the wind is blowing or about any number of tragedies happening around the world.
And I have, thus far, successfully convinced myself that doing this isn’t putting my head in the sand.
I am not reading the news and I am not forming coherent opinions about it because it was slowly killing me. I was dying from the exposure to the constant stream of information. I was drowning in the flood of hot takes and factoids that only seem to matter for the moment during which they have been uttered. I was filling all of the small moments of my life with little doses of poison, building up more tolerance to take more and more inside me.
And I don’t want to die, at least not like that. So, I will engage when I able and when I can actually do something good for myself and others. I will absolutely vote and volunteer my time. I still plan to work as an Election Judge this November (having had an incredible time doing so for the primary just a few weeks ago). I will still engage with my kids or my partner or my friends as they try to sort out their own political conundrums.
But, I will not be reading the news. I will not be consuming every word of commentary from the curated sources that I have been building for years. Not because there aren’t things worth fighting for in this election and not because I want to just “let whatever happens happen.” No, I will not be reading the news because it isn’t good for me. Not healthy and not valuable.
I am living in a post-news world, and for the moment, it feels kind of okay. Who knew?
