It’s not a secret at this point, particularly if you read this blog with any regularity (thanks!), but I’ve made a few changes in my life. I’ve been fairly open about most of them but there are a few I don’t talk much about, mainly due to the facial expressions I receive when I do.
Like watching the news. In 2022 I stopped mainlining cable news in all of it’s forms because it was having a negative impact on my outlook. I think it was having a negative impact on everyone, really – but I can only make that decision for me. Between a global pandemic and a disgraced president, it’s safe to say that knowledge of the outside world was taking a toll. As it turns out, the really important stuff gets talked about openly enough that I can still call myself vaguely informed while maintaining some semblance of inner peace.
You watching the news is great. I actually count on it.
Me watching the news makes for shitty artistic output and a lack of focus on things I can control or improve.
If there’s a thing I learned during the pandemic news cycles, it’s that they broadcast the exception rather than the rule. That is to say; for example, that a 22-year-old athlete dying of Covid-19 was extremely uncommon, thereby making it newsworthy – which somehow gave everyone the idea that; although an outcome is extremely unlikely, it’s still cause for alarm. I’ll never say that a story like that isn’t tragic, but it’s a long way from preventing me from doing anything different in my life… though at the time I may not have known how to process it.
What I know now is that just because someone is saying something doesn’t mean that I need to allow it to alter my perception. At this point, a lot of people are saying a lot of things, and I’m really not too concerned about any of them. I’ve actually learned about a great number of things through shared memes on social media, which gives an interesting perspective, too.
For my life, though… I’m concerned with doing what’s right for myself, my family, and my community. I’m concerned with making rock & roll, and enriching the lives of people through that.
I’m just out here searching for the promised land.
The Conscious Pilgrim 