What It Feels Like, Right Now. “It’s hard to focus. It’s hard to focus on the things in front of me, that I need to do. It’s hard to focus on the news, because it’s not just one thing, it’s a hundred things, news like fire ants…”
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Comments 4
I’m using my trusty web and app blocker for the majority of hours in a day (I use the Freedom app and I’m sure there are many, many others). I can choose how much or little to block.
About 2 months ago, I took a month news sabbatical. I sort of knew what was happening by what was talked about around me but I did not seek out the news. It was refreshing. I listened to more music. I played more music. I read fiction. I knew it couldn't go on forever -- keeping my head stuck in the sand. Interestingly, even without actively consuming the news, I was very much aware of what was happening. Information is everywhere and you get it by diffusion.
Now, I'm back to the news and as expected, it's upsetting. Trying to find the right balance.
What is it about doom scrolling or picking at the wound? I'm not sure what need we have to get sucked into doing things that are painful.
I have a teaspoon of rage, a pound of Whatever, and a big bag of Despairing Inertia. That is not a prescription for Getting Stuff Done™. Problem is that the point of Getting Stuff Done™ seems either irrelevant or over with.
It’s too much, and it’s still so early, and I know I just said this, but it’s too much.
It’s Steve Bannon’s “Flood the Zone” strategy, turned up to 451°.
I know this is going to sound stupid, but I need half the country to organize resistance like it was a potluck: If your last name is A-D, you worry about trans rights. E-G, deportations and Guantanamo. H-K, tariffs and the stock market, L-N, you get Elon Musk, etc. I can’t make it through four years being devastated on all fronts all at once but I can’t turn my back on any of it. If I knew someone else had the other stuff, I would have more energy to act without feeling overwhelmed.
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