By Tabitha Bozeman
How is it already June? On one hand, it is hard to believe January was six months ago, but on the other it has been the longest six months since, well, the LAST time it felt like the longest six months since January. There have been too many things constantly in the news to even pretend to keep up with, and trying to keep up is enough to drive any sane human to the brink of a nervous breakdown. What is to be done? A responsible citizen needs to keep up with at least some of what is happening worldwide and here at home in order to make educated decisions and plan for the future. How do I do that without fostering anxiety, giving in to hyperbole, and generally burning out? A few different approaches have been my go-to methods recently.
Studies show that when we read the news–in our local newspapers, for example–we give our brains time to reflect more deeply, connect more ideas, and exercise personal agency in our news consumption. When we hold a newspaper in front of us, or even scroll through it on our phones, we can choose what to read and in what order. We can scan through headlines first, for example, then read what we are most interested in or are most ready to think about. We can set it down and come back to it. We can even make notes on printed copies about follow-up questions we have, or unfamiliar terms. We can control the stream and duration of the information we ingest. When we are constantly watching news programming, we have no control over the order of the stories, over the tones and volumes the presenters use, or of the images flashing across our screens. If we aren’t intentional with our viewing, this can become a sensory overload that leads to compulsive worry about what stories we might be missing, building anxiety, leading to trouble sleeping, then more anxiety, and so on. It can become a vicious cycle.
To disengage from this vicious cycle without disengaging from civic awareness, I have had to give myself and those around me some very specific boundaries. For example, I do not allow the tv to be on the news 24/7. If there is a specific special we want to watch, we watch it. But, we no longer leave the news running in the background. This was really easy to do during the COVID shutdown, and became a habit we had to break together as a family. This change alone has helped lower anxiety for everyone in our home.
Next, I give myself time in the morning to flip through the newspaper if I have a copy and just scan the headlines. Or, I might take five minutes to click through headlines on the computer. I also did some research and found some sites that curate headlines so that I can get summaries instead of every detail. This is what I start with when I want to know what is going on each day. As the day goes on, I have time to percolate. I think about those headlines and later in the day, I look up the stories that stick with me, I am the most curious about, or that seem the most urgent to learn more about.
To intentionally slow down my news intake a little more, I make sure I google any terms, phrases, or people from the news stories that seem unfamiliar or nebulous to me. This allows me to either verify that I do have some basic understanding of the information, or provides an opportunity to gain that basic understanding. Today, for instance, I was reading an article and the term “kunstlerroman” popped up–I know the term “bildungsroman” but this was new to me, so I immediately looked it up. Now I know that this is a work of writing that follows the development or formative years of a writer or artist. This is definitely a good term for me to know in my field.
Sometimes, though, all the intentional curation of news intake is still not enough to keep the screaming heads at bay, so what can we do other than completely sticking our heads in the sand? Well, we can intentionally build in brain breaks for ourselves. The other day, I sat on the hammock in our yard and listened to a podcast on a topic of interest. Just being outside for a little while took stress away almost immediately. Studies have shown that being outside lowers cortisol levels, slows heart rate, and boosts the feel-good endorphins. (This makes a hammock, swing, or lawn chair the ideal place to read your copy of the Messenger, right?)
Another go-to for everyone in my home is music. We often have music playing in various rooms, and sometimes my youngest will spend hours composing songs on her piano. Music has also been proven to help us relax in ways similar to sitting outside, with an added benefit of providing an opportunity to sync brain waves with the sound waves from our favorite tunes. This synchronization helps lower stress levels, too.
My absolute favorite stress-busting routine? A combo of reading a book with a story that has caught my attention, outside, with relaxing instrumental music playing in the background. I’ve said it before and I will continue to remind everyone that reading a book you enjoy for even just six minutes provides stress-lowering benefits similar to doing yoga for thirty minutes. (You can google that and check if it seems too good to be true. I did.)
June is here. We have already had mind-boggling levels of news-worthy stories to sift and sort through for a solid six months, and I am pretty sure the pace is not going to slow down any time soon. So, this summer, while you are taking care of yourself physically by exercising, staying hydrated, and cooling off, be sure to take some time to intentionally safeguard your stress levels and invest in how and when you take in the news. Slow down. Read the newspaper. Make it tactile and underline things. Look up unfamiliar things ideas. And, do it all while you get some fresh air and listen to some tunes.
