S.I.T. Day 5: Buh-bye 24hr News Cycle

The best decision I made to protect my sanity was giving up the 24hr news cycle to live in a bubble of blissful ignorance. Sad but true. But I could no longer handle the onslaught of click-bait headlines and graphic imagery of violent racist attacks, repeated injustices in our criminal justice system, and school shootings; Covid deaths, overwhelmed hospitals & healthcare workers, and conspiracy theories; corporate greed, global warming and the global spread of political polarization. As a highly sensitive person, every news story felt like an assault to my soul. It tangled me into a tight little ball of chronic anxiety in ways I’ve never experienced before. And the only balance the media seemed to offer was stupid celebrity gossip. And I certainly don’t care to keep up with the Kardashians.

With all the yuck of the world compounded by constant career changes and personal life shifts needed to survive our “new normal”, my body, mind, and spirit was in a perpetual state of restlessness. Worry gnawed at my gut and rendered me sleepless. I was literally functioning on coffee, adrenaline and auto-pilot until my nerves could no longer handle the caffeine.

To heal the anxiety in my gut, I had to get out of my head and do what grounds me most. My spirit needed long walks in the park, connection with my sister-friends, journaling, and my personal Pilates practice. I realized that, I can be aware of what’s going on in the world while controlling the frequency of the same ol’, re-spun news stories in my house. It’s a constant work in progress, but I am reclaiming my sanity!

31 Days of Soaked in Thought

S.I.T is an invitation to SIT with yourself – for a few minutes per day – to think your thoughts, feel your feels & express your emotions with a JOURNALING RITUAL. For the entire month of Jan, I’ll be posting daily journaling prompts as a source of inspiration. Ring in the New Year by getting #soakedinthought