Oddly enough, the world of news keeps happening, even when I don't pay attention.

[IdaBriggs]

I admit I am a "news junkie"; I like to keep up on current events, and I take some pride in being aware of the issues of the day. I listen to NPR on a regular enough basis that I feel guilty when I don't donate to the fund drives, and I like "politics" enough to have an opinion on the recent election results from Tuesday, even though there was nothing for me to vote on in my precinct.

But.

I don't get a newspaper, and I don't subscribe to magazines. Frankly, the rise of the internet really made both feel like "unnecessary expenditures." Yes, I will read "light entertainment magazines" when stuck at an appointment if they don't have free Wi-Fi or on those rare occasions when I don't have immediate access to a book (yep, I'm a reader!), but I don't subscribe, and probably purchase the odd one less than once or twice a year, if that.

I also don't watch cable news; frankly, I stopped doing that before my children were born (they are six now) because I just kept finding myself wanting to yell at the television when nonsense was being spewed. I can, however, discuss the cultural relevance of "The Wiggles" changing out the Yellow Wiggle, why children who watch "Handy Manny" shouldn't be left unsupervised around screwdrivers, and why I like the fact my daughter moved on from Dora to Word Girl - and seeing "real dinosaurs" interacting with "real children" still makes me stop what I'm doing in a shocked way.

Plus a few months ago we "cut the cord" with cable/satellite; honestly, we've been too busy with life to notice. We can watch most of our favorite shows on the internet, and thanks to Google Chrome, we just "cast" them to the television. We can't skip through commercials, but honestly, "free / saving over $1,000 a year" is making it worth it (so far).

No time for "regular" news programs - I mentioned twins, right? Lol. Sigh. Frankly, Jon Stewart and "The Daily Show" on the internet every now and then makes me feel like I know what is going on in the "real world" of "adult news." Everything else is just one manufactured, breathlessly reported "stay tuned because THIS is important (but not important enough to delay our station break)" which honestly moves things from "important" to "interesting" and I am BUSY.

So - no cable news, no regular news, no newspapers, no magazines, regular NPR and Way Too Much Internet (including DU and the "Latest Breaking News" forum).

And I still feel completely overwhelmed.

Have you ever noticed that sometimes life just keeps you so busy you don't know how you are stumbling through it, and you just have to say STOP! NO MORE! I will pay attention to this LATER!

And "later" comes, and really, it is the same story, but with different players?

There are always Natural Disasters - powerful storms and/or fires and/or earthquakes.

There are always Political Scandals - corruption, incompetence, titillation, snippiness, etc.

There are always Heartbreaking Crimes - innocents caught up in gunfire and bloodshed, and the grief of the survivors.

There are always Wars and Intrigue and Poverty and ...

Honestly, if you conduct an experiment - look at the "top stories" on a weekly basis, there won't be any "new stories" - just the same stories, with different names and faces.

I tell myself that "paying attention makes a difference." I am not confident of that. I tell myself that I need to be an informed citizen, and I do my best to react/respond to the disaster stories appropriately.

BUT.

Honestly, I am not sure that my listening to NPR's stories about the situation in the Middle East is making a difference. I am not sure that calling to tell my Senator to "stand strong on Obamacare" really mattered. I am not sure that hearing about a 19-year old girl shot to death near where I work because she knocked on someone's door asking for help after an auto accident is giving her family any comfort.

I come to Democratic Underground, and I share my thoughts. In real life, I am only important to my family and friends. I work hard at a good job, won a battle against a bank, and I need to sit down and finish the documentation for my theory on the cause/prevention/treatment of certain forms of cerebral palsy, which will become a bigger priority once my son finishes adjusting to life in his first grade classroom/stops getting suspended for his potty mouth/starts doing his schoolwork at school instead of bringing it all home. (The daughter is doing AWESOME and just won an award for "Computer Programmer of the Month" - takes after her mommy!) I struggle to keep my house in order (yeah, FlyLady!), and spend more time after school as a chauffeur than I do as anything else. I am lucky to be more happily married than not, and both grandmas provide my children emotional support.

I am not sure me paying attention to the big news of the day is actually helping anyone. I am thinking of taking a break from it.

As I said, oddly enough, I don't think my participation will matter....?

Thoughts? Do I just need a Lounge break for a while? Am I getting too cynical? Or is it really just getting repetitive?

[Puzzledtraveller]

1. All the world you need is right there with you.

That is what you have, the space you occupy, the friends and family that you love. Turn to that, and turn off the rest.

[IdaBriggs]

3. There is probably more truth in your one line answer...

than in my multi-paragraph post!

[global1]

9. I Agree With Puzzledtraveller's Comments But One Thing You Need To Still Do....

is vote when there is an election as every vote counts - but I'm sure you know that. Now take care of those kids, your husband and the grandparents - but most of all yourself. Loved your post.

[scheming daemons]

2. being an informed citizen makes a difference

Interacting with other informed citizens like us has value.

When one person finds others who think and feel as they do, a group is formed. When that group finds other like minded groups, a small movement is formed.

Stay tuned in. Stay with us on DU. Your opinion matters.

I, for one, value your participation here.

And only by making sure there are more of us informed citizens can we have a chance to hold off the barbarians at the gate... the ignorant, the fearful, the misinformed teahadists.

Please stay.

[IdaBriggs]

5. Thank you. I am not trying to do a "I'm Dramatically Leaving!" post.

I'm just very tired, and feeling overwhelmed, and completely ineffectual, and somewhat foolish, if that makes any sense.

Your reply made me teary - thank you for it!

Do you think that sharing our thoughts here, and then taking them out to our individual worlds is really helping? I know we have our Will Pitt and Steve Lesser and Nadines, but for the rest of us, who don't have "big voices to the world" -- are we influencing anything except ourselves?

[scheming daemons]

10. even influencing just those around you is important

I have a 19 year old in college.

She is much more politically tuned in than others her age and I think that is because, in some small part, my influence on her.

You don't need a "big" voice. Thousands of small voices have a big impact.

Whether you realize it or not, you are influencing your children. They are growing up in an environment where knowing about the world around them is considered the proper thing to do.

You may feel overwhelmed and thin you don't make a difference, but you do. At the minimum, you influence your children.

And that's good enough.

[mgc1961]

4. Ida, you don't need my thoughts.

You have plenty of your own.

I'm confident you will make the right choices when it comes to juggling the swirling life that surrounds us all.

Have a good weekend!

[IdaBriggs]

6. From tears to chuckles - one of the reasons I love DU!

Thank you for your support!

Have a good weekend, too!

[katmondoo]

7. I am beginning to think like you

All I get from searching for news is depression. Always hoping something great will happen to make me happy and it never happens. Fighting for what is best for the country is an endless battle that accomplishes nothing. I guess I am just tired of it all as nothing changes for the better and when it does there is another new thing to negate the good. We had some victories Tuesday that was a good day, that didn't last long. Rush is still here, the wacko's are still here, the stalemates are still going on. Maybe tomorrow will be better, maybe I'll feel better, maybe I need to be more optimistic.

[IdaBriggs]

8. I've always thought "real problems can be fixed - when they aren't, follow the $$$."

Sometimes problems are simply profitable.

Sigh.

I am *officially* getting Very Cynical.

[scheming daemons]

12. incremental change, while it is happening, appears to be nothing

Imagine a time machine where you could go back and talk to a 2003 version of yourself. Would that 2003 version of you ever imagined that:

- THIS country would have elected a black man with a muslim name to the Presidency twice?

- THIS country would have gotten rid of DOMA and had marriage equality in 15 states?

- that we would be out of Iraq and rapidly getting out of Afghanistan?

- that marijuana legalization would be spreading like wildfire across the country?

Think of where we were in 2003. The pace of change has been great when you take the long view... But while in the midst of it, it feels slow.


Yes, there have been negative changes as well.. The rise of the tea party, the intransigence of the GOP, the market crash and near depression of 2008, and so on.


But the arc of change has been largely positive.

Like evolution or erosion, it can be hard to see while it is going on... But it is happening, and when you look at a larger time frame, you can see it.

[randome]

11. Keeping abreast of everything that happens in the world is too often a reflexive need to be busy.

It sounds like you have more than enough to keep you busy as is. I like your perspective. Don't watch the world so much. Be a part of it.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]