Dear listeners,
I’m trying something different this week (as far as audio is concerned) but staying with the same theme in terms of how to approach this topic of war and fear. Please pardon the first 10 seconds of this recording, I accidentally deleted it, then re-recorded it as best I could to maintain continuity.
Depending on who you talk to, people are pretty worn out or stressed by the pandemic. Don’t forget the prior 4-5 years was full of political turmoil (no matter the side you took) and twitter wars. Now that we find ourselves in this global situation the question on my mind is if these hairy times go on for a bit how do we get through these waves for the long haul.
The political events of the last few weeks feel different in scale but similar in divisiveness and fear. I find this content relevant to our mental heath- individually and collectively. When people are glued to the news despite sensitivities to the topics at hand, which are so grim, over time that wears down our thinking, sleep, self worth, hope and/or ability to connect with others. Hearing the same negative information over and over- drills in hopelessness, fear, rage and desperation for the listener who may have little reason to have those thoughts to begin with. While I’m not advocating to bury ones head in the sand and pretend nothing bad is going on, I’m suggesting checking one’s self and modulating input depending on a personal capacity may be a more sustainable plan over time to protect one’s mental health.
While it’s important we help one another the best way we can (if we can) as citizens of this planet, sending most or all of us into a state of panic, suffering, fear, exhaustion etc undermines our ability to keep on living our lives and/or be helpful to ourselves and others. All this neative input can feed/worsen existing mental health issues (or create new ones), which leads me to suggest people consider limiting exposure to the news (particular television or audio, but it can be online via social media, message boards, or content that includes graphic/color images). Printed matter is skimmable on the low tolerance days and can be delved into deeply on the batter tolerance days.
I’ve made some suggestions in the audio on ways to regenerate oneself, to cultivate quietness or a kind of harmony within. Here are some pictures to remind us the world keeps turning, nature keeps humming and remains available as a means to rekindle peace within.
Thanks for listening and feel free to share with anyone who might find this helpful.
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