• HEALTH & RECOVERY
    Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules Thread Directory 1 Thread Directory 2
    Mindfulness Links Addiction & Mind
    Sober Living Partner Program (SLiPP)
  • H&R Moderators: VerbalTruist

Boycott the news, for a better you.

And this goes for the newspaper as well.

It's almost sad to say that when I am up in the morning with my mom, she picks up the paper from outside. I have observed that the first thing she reads is the obituary page. How upsetting to start your day finding out who has died and whose wake/funeral you need to attend!

Changed, since starting this idea, I have not read a single newspaper nor linked to any news site (I don't watch much television, so news there is not watched) and I can personally say I have not felt more alive. I have so much extra time; not physical time, but mental time to practice being attentive of the world around me. Funny how I decide not to look at news about the world and it turns out I am more attentive of the world now than before. If that makes any sense.
 
Yep. I was at my grandparents for part of the holiday and she turned the news on after a tv program. It was one horrifying thing to another. Made me think of this thread.
 
I hear what you are saying about older people, my wife's father is in his late 70's and suffering from parkinsons and some form of bowel cancer i think, anyway she went to stay with him for a few days recently to give her mum a break from caring for him, she says that he sits there all day with the tv on the 24 hour news channel with it turned up loud, and she was horrified that it was just one disaster story after the next, fear upon fear upon fear, she turned it off and made him get out his old record collection and spent the night asking him about his memories of when he bought the records etc....

Funny thing is, he lives on an amazing bit of land surrounded by rain forest, wildlife everywhere, and has the option of sitting on the porch with a cup of tea watching nature go about it's business, but instead it's world disaster after world disaster on the bloody tv, so sad.

no wonder old people get sick.
 
Changed said:
Feeling anxious, depressed, lost in an ever churning sea of negativity and despair? Do what I did: quit consuming the news!
Click to expand...

Somehow I missed this thread when it was first posted :)

I have not watched the news for about 2 years. I have not read a newspaper for at least 5 years. Occasionally if there is something I am interested in that I've heard someone in the lunchroom at work discussing I will look it up on a news website but that's about once every 4 months.

The only access I have to news and current affairs is on the one radio station I listen to in the car to and from work (triplej, for any Aussies in here). There is a 4-minute news report on the hour, and a 30-minute current affairs show each weekday afternoon (which I rarely catch because I'm usually home by then).

I find no need to watch or read more news than this, and I'm not exposed to any unnecessary fear-mongering sensationalised bullshit news. I'm happy :)
 
n3ophy7e said:
Somehow I missed this thread when it was first posted :)

I have not watched the news for about 2 years. I have not read a newspaper for at least 5 years. Occasionally if there is something I am interested in that I've heard someone in the lunchroom at work discussing I will look it up on a news website but that's about once every 4 months.

The only access I have to news and current affairs is on the one radio station I listen to in the car to and from work (triplej, for any Aussies in here). There is a 4-minute news report on the hour, and a 30-minute current affairs show each weekday afternoon (which I rarely catch because I'm usually home by then).

I find no need to watch or read more news than this, and I'm not exposed to any unnecessary fear-mongering sensationalised bullshit news. I'm happy :)
Click to expand...

I'm giving you a huge thumbs up! Congrats on doing something for you instead of for the sake of "knowing what's going on in the world".
 
I'm late to the party on this thread as well. I try to strike a balance between being informed, and and not absorbing so much of the news that I become depressed, horrified, and get a "the world's going to shit so what does it matter..." attitude. What irritates me is someone who, unsolicited, gives their opinion about current issues when they are clearly not informed (from whatever news source). I am an EMT and see alot of crime, assaults, fire, motor vehicle collisions, cats stuck up trees....No, seriously, it's easy to get oversaturated and cop a bad attitude. And then I'm of no use to anyone, especially myself. I check out the weather & traffic every day, read local papers & Sunday NYT, watch national news about once every two weeks, and frequently catch The Daily Show & Colbert Report. If the news is bad, at least make me laugh while I hear about it.
 
Simply_Live said:
Funny how I decide not to look at news about the world and it turns out I am more attentive of the world now than before. If that makes any sense.
Click to expand...

Now you're defining your world instead of having it defined for you :)
 
^ Feels good, man. More confidence in my speech and actions now than ever before. Even if no one I see on a daily basis understands.

I wish you the best in defining your world through time! The definition I see in my head is beautiful.

On the downside, I watched some television with my mom earlier today, with celebrities and million dollar houses and I could almost feel myself sliding downward... It was subtle, but noticeable. Being bombarded with pointless information is unnecessary. Hahaha, guess that's less time spent with mom from now on in her territory (the television is her "calm down" time).
 
I went through the latter half of 2010 with almost no news. It's true that a major source of downers is removed. It's almost like that's the real purpose. One does feel slightly disconnected for a while but I feel that's just conditioning and it wears off.

I've fed on a bit more news over the holiday and it was gloomy as hell, of course.

When I do get my news it's mostly from outside broadsheet/rag sources but it's still extremely gloomy. I'd like to know of some news sources that are generally more positive, somehow. If such a thing is possible.
 
My boyfriend works away from home for 4 weeks at a time and I know for a fact that he watches the news and reads the newspaper etc every single day. Which is fine, each to their own. But as I previously mentioned I haven't watched the news for about 2 years so I suppose by now I am more sensitive to it. (?)

My boyfriend is home at the moment for his holiday break so we're compromising by watching 50:50 what each other likes to watch on TV. I've been sitting here on the computer for about 20 minutes and he has been watching the news on TV behind me. He just got up to go and make dinner a short while ago, and left the news blaring in the background.

After hearing the horrible shit that is being broadcast behind me I am nearly crying and having a panic attack after only about 15 minutes!! How do people listen to/watch this shit every day?! I can hardly sleep as it is, with my own anxiety, let alone the rest of the world's problems on my mind!

Fuckin' crazy.


Here's to boycotting the news.
 
n3o, you suffer from anxiety?!? i don't believe it. you're one of the chillingest chilled peeps i've ever met.
 
No, sorry that was a bit misleading. I have had the odd panic attack here and there, but don't suffer from bona fide anxiety. I have difficulty sleeping because of my over-active imagination creating anxiety-inducing scenarios in my head at night (I'm scared of the dark and of people breaking in to my house at night). That's what I meant :)
 
i read a lot of underground, political, and dare i say, "leftist" news sites on the regular.

i also read mainstream news, like bbc, cnn, and yes, fox news as well.

i belive its important to follow mainstream news - NOT BECAUSE YOURE READING THE "NEWS," but to follow what the world's largest corporations want you to believe.

its an excellent way to follow patterns around the world, to really get a feel for whats going on. once youve had the non corporate perspective, switch back to corporate, and you can just see the pied piper behind that screen.

youll find out that most people think that the CIA and Wikileaks are working against each other. That most people think its no big deal that hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of birds and fish dropped dead along a satellite path around the world, that no one thinks its odd that though most of pakistan was destroyed by a flood and received very little media attention, Australia receives similar flooding and you cant escape the headlines... heck i find it astounding that people think Hitler's regime in the 1940s was actually worse than the Communist regime in China since then. Could that be mainstream media beating people over the head with whatever it is they want their attention focused on?

Do you actually think Obama isnt working for corporations, or better yet, isnt on the same team as Bush?

likewise, its very important to follow both conservative and liberal news. this is the easiest way to see that, in the usa, there is no such thing as a two party system, but one grand illusion that tricks people into thinking theyre voting for a different outcome than the other guy. no one seems to stop to think that its all a play, and theyre working together. do you think a plutocracy would announce itself to a herd of followers that believe theyre free?

just understand that with ANY News you read, youre not reading facts, youre reading what someone wants you to believe is happening in the world.

feeling anxious after reading the news? their subliminal messaging works well, and you are acting as youre subversively told to act.

i suggest the opposite of the original post. READ ALL NEWS. Read the left, read the right, read science news, read mainstream news, read war journals, read tech news, read business news. Youll see the patterns forming. Youll realize its hard to follow along, and perhaps then youll realize thats the plan - to create an instinct within you to just skim headlines of the mainstream, and form your perception of the world around that.
 
rm-rf said:
i belive its important to follow mainstream news - NOT BECAUSE YOURE READING THE "NEWS," but to follow what the world's largest corporations want you to believe.
Click to expand...

There are always three sides to the story: one side, the other side, and the truth. Some things are better off not said to the public. With all of the crazy people out there, government officials are trying as hard as they can to not be assassinated. As strange as that sounds.

You are very right; you want to know the truth? Follow the money trail. But here's the thing. When you don't follow what everyone else is, there's no further debate on the misleading information fed into millions of minds every day. I personally feel that much better staying out of it rather than being in the center. The center's a little too hot for me.

Do you actually think Obama isnt working for corporations, or better yet, isnt on the same team as Bush?
Click to expand...

I'd say the greater number of people (in this specific thread at least) believe we're all in this together as a philosophical approach to living. This means that we aren't "choosing" teams to be on, we are all living the best way we can. We choose to live in ways that benefit us. If Obama is "choosing" some tactics that look the same as Bush's, so what? That's just your mind talking. I think he's doing a fine job and Bush did his best. I have not and will not be affected by the indirect choices of others because I know I always have choices.

just understand that with ANY News you read, youre not reading facts, youre reading what someone wants you to believe is happening in the world.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I want popular opinion on my side -- I've noticed those with the most opinions often have the fewest facts.

Bethania McKenstry


i suggest the opposite of the original post. READ ALL NEWS. Read the left, read the right, read science news, read mainstream news, read war journals, read tech news, read business news. Youll see the patterns forming. Youll realize its hard to follow along, and perhaps then youll realize thats the plan - to create an instinct within you to just skim headlines of the mainstream, and form your perception of the world around that.
Click to expand...

In reference to NOT consuming the news every day or at all for that matter, a quote! I personally feel more connected with the world and its necessities instead of being connected to the opinions of others. Here is what someone had to say.

"Now you're defining your world instead of having it defined for you"
- Changed
 
^ It popped up on "quotes of the day" and I had to share, lol.

This morning my mom asked me if I'd heard about Egypt instating a curfew, banning the Internet and banning cell phone usage. I replied, "Why?" and mom was all "I don't know." ...Unless she missed that tidbit of information (which I don't doubt), it just goes to show what most people listen to while watching the news--They don't listen for the information as to "why," they listen for the "who, what, when, and where". Missing a big chunk of information there--If not the most important part.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top