I have been feeling especially overwhelmed by the speed of the information in the past couple of months, especially in light of the recent events in the Middle East. Unverified and fake news reports are one of the problems but the lack of critically thought-out articles is another. But besides the news, I feel like even regular content online e.g. simple YouTube videos that I used to enjoy are becoming all about sensationalism. As soon as I open the YouTube app, everyone is suddenly and voraciously screaming for my attention. Just looking at the titles of the videos – “I got called fat at 16”, “Why I did not look during the birth?”, “They will soon turn 31 and 34 but…”. – they don’t make me want to click on them.
They make me want to run away from the internet, shut down the app, turn off my phone, get outside for a walk in the autumn rain, turn the lights down and sink into the couch with a good book, put winter jazz on a loudspeaker and bake some cinnamon cookies, cuddle watching movies, chat with a friend about everything and nothing. They make me want to run away from fake, exaggerated, sensationalized, click here, click there, click everywhere. They make me want to confirm that real is here, and it is now. They make me want to slow down time, slow down information, hide away in the reality where the human connection and feeling and emotions matter and I can live the life. The more time passes, the stronger I feel this urge to root down in reality more than ever.
So the moral of this story is that there is no moral of the story. There is just a feeling that when I step outside of my house and I hold my daughter’s hand, I want her to know that the real world is right there in front of her, and it is fascinating and exciting and worth mindful and thoughtful exploration, it does not have to be in the next mouse click.
Also, I lied in this post. I don’t really like cinnamon. But it sounded good.
Kat's Thoughts 