Every second our collective heart breaks / All together every single head shakes / Shut your eyes but it won’t go away / Turn on / Turn off / The news
Paramore, “This is Why”. The News.
I was raised in a very opinionated family. Politics, religion, you name it and there was (and is) a way to it. That was, of course, very formative for me. Only natural, we take on the aspects of our home. As part of that formation, I brought that opinionated nature with me to my adulthood and maintain it through today – obviously, or I wouldn’t be on here spouting my two-cent philosophies every week. Despite what some may think of that kind of upbringing, I’ll always be grateful to my parents for providing me the foundation to know that what I believe matters. That it has purpose.
Despite all that, I’m not here to argue for burying yourself in activism. Quite the opposite, in fact. The modern age is on a perpetual hunt for those with convictions since, it seems, we’re the ones more easily able to be exploited. Or, at least the ones more willing to do something when the clarion call sounds. Everywhere you look is a new cause, a new rallying cry for this group or that idea. The news picks and chooses whatever will make you the most angry and drive the current narrative, pumping us full of the drive to get out there and do something about the Current Thing. Five minutes later, that’s down the memory hole and we’re onto the next Current Thing to get us going. The next Two Minutes Hate.
As I’ve grown older I’ve come to accept that my life, and the world, is what it is. My time and influence are finite, and my attention can only go to so many places. Finding out what those places are and directing my energy there has been a Godsend. More time with the family and friends, more time producing some creative works and scratching my competitive itch. Wonderful, all around.
Still, it isn’t easy. You sort of have to keep your head down to avoid looking at the world in the eye. Lift it up for a second and there’s some cyberpunk dystopian neon sign set there specifically to outrage you and derail your drive. This storm of anger is always there, always raging, and we have to take active measures against it. Shore up the windows, build a covered walkway, etc. As the continually wise Andrew Klavan likes to say, anger is the Devil’s cocaine. It hits hard, makes you feel some kind of righteous. One hit is never enough. There’s something in our physiology that loves feeling above other people and anger’s a great way to get a taste.
What I’ve opted to do, more or less, is just check out. I have my beliefs. I know myself. I can tune in every couple of weeks to see if anything important has gone on, but as far as the rest of it is concerned – what good would it do to be tapped in all the time? What am I going to do about some crime across the country that paints the narrative the establishment wants to paint? Or some conflict across the world or between parties that has no direct bearing on my life? If it’s local, I’ll care. If I can get involved, I’ll try to. Otherwise, I’ve got a family to raise. To protect, to instill values in. To get ready for the world they’re entering into. That’s a full time job on its own, and one far more important than what I’m being sold from outside.
Unplug.
Huh, would you look at that. Found a shortcut for the “dividing line” up there. Neat.
Anyway, God’s honest truth here I’m getting pretty tired of this Lego hunt. It’s so very time consuming. There’s so much I’d rather be doing. Yet, with the upstairs den absolutely littered at this point there’s not much reason to turn back. Sunk cost fallacies abound, but whatever. I’ll just complain about it again when a new one shows up next week.
Themeattics 