Regular news fasts will help you feel better about yourself and other people. Mainly because you won’t be wondering if they’re a killer and you’re about to become their next victim.
There is a reason why ignorance is bliss. Pick up any newspaper you like and you’ll soon find out why. Crime and crises are rarely bedfellows to bliss.
This morning the papers were splashed with headlines about a man who was beaten to death. Then there was the young woman killed by her in-laws. Then a scandal regarding people who lost everything in a home development scam and now face retirement in complete poverty. Cheery, isn’t it?
Now I’m not belittling, or denying, the fact that terrible things happen in the world. Our newspapers and TVs don’t let us forget that for an instant but what would happen if we were forced to hear good news all the time? I’ll tell you what; our blood pressures would be lower, our moods would be happier and we’d have that weird contortion of the face called a ‘smile’ playing on our lips rather more often.
The author and TV documentary maker, Michael Moore, analysed news coverage in the States and compared it to news coverage in Canada. He believes that more news coverage of violence in the States leads that country to think itself unsafe while a more balanced approach to news in Canada left it feeling quite upbeat about theproblem of crime, so much so that in some parts of the country, people still leave their back doors unlocked.
Back when I was a teenager, I became obsessed with good health and I started devouring alternative health books. My favourite was 8 Weeks to Optimum Health by Dr Andrew Weil, M.D. In it the good doc laid out his plan for getting to the best of health. This is where I heard about ‘news fasts’. He advised that everyone take a day a week when they did not listen to radio news, TV news or pick up a paper. You should start with a day a week and expand it until you mostly don’t hear the news.
Now this was the most revolutionary thing I had ever heard. As a journalist, I live and breathe on news. It was like being told to stop breathing. I enlisted my father – also a journalist – for support and we both tried it for a month. The days we news fasted, it was like having missing limb syndrome. You’d go to turn the radio on automatically in the morning and then have to slap your hand away. The same with midday news on the telly.
The result? We had one of the happiest months in years. Of course, I’m sure I’ll discover that some minor celebrity from my youth is now dead and I don’t know it because it fell on my news fast day but what’s the worst that could happen? I’ll lose out on a pub quiz. So what? The point is I also missed all the train crashes, the cruelty, the stupidity, the near-sighted self-interests of corporations etc., etc. And I am much the happier for it.
If anything really huge happens, trust me, someone will tell you. Bizarrely, when 9/11 happened I was judging a curry competition in Bournemouth. After the competition, a few of us were having a drink in an outdoor café looking out over a gorgeous blue sea. My sister phoned me with the news and said ‘go find a TV screen, I can’t even explain’. I walked into the café and everyone was stood watching the news like it was the end of the world. And in many ways, it was. The sea was still beautiful but my enjoyment of it was gone. Don’t let the news steal any more moments of joy from you.
Here’s an idea for you…
Ask all your friends and family to look out for bits of good or funny news for you. Nothing horrible or bizarre (unless it evokes a feeling of wonder) but genuinely wonderful news, often hidden away in regional or trade papers or in the news ‘nibs’ columns. Get them to clip them for you and paste them into a scrapbook of ‘good news’. Whenever awful news makes you feel sad or angry, browse your scrapbook.
Defining idea…
‘Nothing travels faster than light, with the possible exception of bad news, which follows its own rules’
DOUGLAS ADAMS, author and humorist
How did it go?
Q I can’t stand it any more – I need to know what’s happening in the world! I feel dumb at dinner parties. Surely there must be a better way to inner peace?
A Do you really feel dumb because you don’t know which politician has been having an affair with which celebrity? Or do you just feel left out because all your friends are still caught in the news trap? Better to be trapped with company than free alone – is that it? Well, how about you bring your friends along with you. Tell them what you’re doing. Explain why you think the news is so stressful and start that debate at that dinner party.
Q My sister calls me up and tells me the news when we’re having a conversation so I can’t escape it at all. How can I stop her?
A Bring the conversation back to her own life. People love talking about themselves and you can distract her from salacious bits of newsworthy gossip by asking her about her own gossip.
Q I work in an industry where it’s my job to scan the news. How can I avoid it when it’s my job?
A It sounds dramatic but, depending on how much you love your current job and how stressed you are, perhaps you should get a new job? I think the police, lawyers and judges often concentrate on the letter of the law to avoid looking too closely at the crime itself, as when you’re dealing with that daily, you’re bound to get very depressed and exhausted. Perhaps a sabbatical is called for?