SELF-LOVE AND CONTROLLING YOUR MEDIA CONSUMPTION

Sep 18, 2021

​I was looking through Pinterest, as one is apt to do in the mornings, and I came across a list of self-love activities. It had the usual activities, but one really caught my eye. It was, “Control Your Media Intake.” This is a critical self-love/self-care activity that doesn’t get enough attention.

My husband pointed out to me some time ago that many of the television shows I enjoyed, especially reality shows like Hell’s Kitchen, were nothing but hyped up conflict that conflicted with his peace. He asked me to stop watching those shows.

At first, I was angry that he thought he should control what I watched on tv, but then I thought about it. If he needed me to stop watching those shows for his peaceful mindset, I could do that for him. Then something amazing happened. I started to feel better, too. I stopped filling my mindless time with angry, hateful sounds and images and I felt better. I thanked my husband later for asking me to stop watching those television shows for him because of what I gained from abstaining as well.

We have all come off more than four years of conflict and anger and hate on social media. I know that several times over just the past 18 months, I have chosen to remove someone from my social media circle because seeing them and their posts just made me angry. I wasn’t angry with the person, so I didn’t block them from ever contacting me again, but I did remove their posts from my view so I wouldn’t always be angry with them.

If you’re feeling highly emotional and stressed out about what you see on your social media, I would highly recommend culling your friends list to remove the ones who only make you sad and angry. Take breaks from social media the same way you would take breaks from anything else in your life that brings you continual stress and strife.

You may also want to consider changing where and how you get your news. For the majority of this pandemic and even before, my husband and I watched The Daily Show nightly to get an overview of the national news we needed to know. The Daily show was news with humor and it had less focus on the political stories that raised our blood pressure. It was a welcome way to get the news without getting more stressed out. Unfortunately, after 18 months of doing the Daily Show from his couch in New York City, Trevor Noah has taken a leave of absence and the show is on hiatus right now.
Because our usual news outlet has disappeared, we have taken to watching parts of larger news shows on YouTube. The only full show we watch is NBC Nightly News.It is usually short enough that the anchors can only handles gloss over of the biggest stories and this is about all we can handle anymore. We are able to then get more information from shows like Rachel Meadow, Ari Melber, and Brian Williams, but we only have to watch clips from those shows on things that interest us.

I recommend taking a close look at your own media consumption. If there are parts of it that make you unhappy or stressed out, eliminate them. You don’t have to know everything about everything to be a productive part of society. Find ways to release your need to know in favor of having a peaceful day to take better care of yourself and show yourself love.

The same goes for your social media. Cull your friends lists until you feel comfortable with what you see each day. I’m not saying you shouldn’t see or react to opposing views from your own, but don’t let those views make you sick.

And remember, as a species on the planet, humans are feeling an overwhelming grief from the loss of millions of souls in the past 18 months. That makes our stress levels even higher than they might otherwise be. And, I think, makes it harder to release people and information that bring us pain and stress. It’s fine to be sad, stressed, and angry. But don’t let these feelings run your life and make you less loving toward yourself. Your love for yourself is more important than any facebook post or news story ever will be when it comes to living your own life.

If you’d like more information on how to clear your energy to be in better alignment with your soulmate partner, book a session with me and we will get you started on your soulmate journey path.