Great idea, although I wonder if it may be more analogy than reality. One cannot curate life so that illness or other maladies are screened out. But, we can curate how we handle what life brings.
Hi Craig, this is something I think about a lot when it comes to this! As I study this stuff more I keep coming across more people who do seem to think illness is emotional/spiritual and we can actually sort of think our way out of it… which I just can’t agree with — though I do think this is possible for some people, just not everyone, just as modern medicine can heal some people but not everyone.
I think here I meant something more like what you are saying: we can reprogram how we think about illness and tragedy, etc., and we can decide what we put our attention on, not that we can completely block it out. Just like we can’t block out things we don’t want to see online no matter how hard we try.
I definitely am of two minds here; the more rational/skeptical/scientific and the part that is beginning to believe more and more in this create-your-own-reality stuff (and mostly, I just want to see if it works, and I know you really have to believe in it for it to work — or so they say!)
Hi. Thanks for sharing. This has been on my mind as well lately. I've been talking with people for input and I would love to understand more why you say this, "We definitely shouldn’t ignore violence or current events entirely." I find many people believe this but I'm curious why this is true for you. Also if anyone else cares to add. Thanks for your time.
Hi Johanna, this is also something I’m trying to figure out for myself. I certainly don’t believe anyone should follow the 24 hour news cycle; I think it’s making many of us quite sick, actually. I was recently advised by a therapist to not follow any news unless I feel I can actually participate and make a difference by volunteering/donating etc and this particularly applies to people with extremely high sensitivity like myself in the context of what he was talking about, but I see a lot of general wisdom in this.
On the other hand I do feel like it’s important to be peripherally aware of issues like climate change etc. though that doesn’t mean you have to subscribe to the doom and gloom narrative around them either.
Then I have friends who believe strongly in following the news and bearing witness to oppression, but I personally don’t feel that it’s beneficial to just passively watch atrocity and shout into echo chambers — it’s much better to go out and change what you actually can and not get wrapped up in the terrifying, nuance-free, apocalyptic world of contemporary headline media coverage.
Curious to hear your thoughts and I’ll definitely keep thinking about this as well.
I guess more directly to your point, I suppose I kind of instinctually feel we should be aware of the issues collectively occurring to humanity so we can vote and live in a way that is in line with our values — *but* I also think this isn’t necessarily applicable or necessary all the time for everyone, particularly people who are extremely highly sensitive or already dealing with many other struggles? Still figuring out exactly how I feel about this though!
Yes to this. Thanks for sharing. I am HSP and neurodivergent and consume v little news out of necessity for my nervous system. "Bearing witness to oppression" is something I have heard in certain circles too and have been thinking on it. I feel like I bear witness to violence and oppression just living life. I wonder if that can be enough.
I think it is enough — and judging by your posts on this blog you are very very deeply engaged with change-making and world-changing ideas already and don’t need news to help you inspire others! ❤️
Really interesting to read this post and thread as I'm grappling with similar thoughts. I have massively cut back on the amount of current affairs I consume, I tend to listen to the news just 3 times a week now, and my mental health is so much better for it. But I do feel a lot of guilt about not bearing witness to the world, not opening myself to empathise with everyone's struggles as often as I can... I think as a fellow HSP I have to remind myself that the news simply doesn't impact everyone the same way. And then maybe it is ok to bear witness from a little further away, as the impact on us will be the same. But I am still trying to make my mind up on this... Anyway, thank you for the brilliant post, Eden, and to you both for this discussion!
Great idea, although I wonder if it may be more analogy than reality. One cannot curate life so that illness or other maladies are screened out. But, we can curate how we handle what life brings.
Hi Craig, this is something I think about a lot when it comes to this! As I study this stuff more I keep coming across more people who do seem to think illness is emotional/spiritual and we can actually sort of think our way out of it… which I just can’t agree with — though I do think this is possible for some people, just not everyone, just as modern medicine can heal some people but not everyone.
I think here I meant something more like what you are saying: we can reprogram how we think about illness and tragedy, etc., and we can decide what we put our attention on, not that we can completely block it out. Just like we can’t block out things we don’t want to see online no matter how hard we try.
I definitely am of two minds here; the more rational/skeptical/scientific and the part that is beginning to believe more and more in this create-your-own-reality stuff (and mostly, I just want to see if it works, and I know you really have to believe in it for it to work — or so they say!)
Hi. Thanks for sharing. This has been on my mind as well lately. I've been talking with people for input and I would love to understand more why you say this, "We definitely shouldn’t ignore violence or current events entirely." I find many people believe this but I'm curious why this is true for you. Also if anyone else cares to add. Thanks for your time.
Hi Johanna, this is also something I’m trying to figure out for myself. I certainly don’t believe anyone should follow the 24 hour news cycle; I think it’s making many of us quite sick, actually. I was recently advised by a therapist to not follow any news unless I feel I can actually participate and make a difference by volunteering/donating etc and this particularly applies to people with extremely high sensitivity like myself in the context of what he was talking about, but I see a lot of general wisdom in this.
On the other hand I do feel like it’s important to be peripherally aware of issues like climate change etc. though that doesn’t mean you have to subscribe to the doom and gloom narrative around them either.
Then I have friends who believe strongly in following the news and bearing witness to oppression, but I personally don’t feel that it’s beneficial to just passively watch atrocity and shout into echo chambers — it’s much better to go out and change what you actually can and not get wrapped up in the terrifying, nuance-free, apocalyptic world of contemporary headline media coverage.
Curious to hear your thoughts and I’ll definitely keep thinking about this as well.
I guess more directly to your point, I suppose I kind of instinctually feel we should be aware of the issues collectively occurring to humanity so we can vote and live in a way that is in line with our values — *but* I also think this isn’t necessarily applicable or necessary all the time for everyone, particularly people who are extremely highly sensitive or already dealing with many other struggles? Still figuring out exactly how I feel about this though!
Yes to this. Thanks for sharing. I am HSP and neurodivergent and consume v little news out of necessity for my nervous system. "Bearing witness to oppression" is something I have heard in certain circles too and have been thinking on it. I feel like I bear witness to violence and oppression just living life. I wonder if that can be enough.
I think it is enough — and judging by your posts on this blog you are very very deeply engaged with change-making and world-changing ideas already and don’t need news to help you inspire others! ❤️
Really interesting to read this post and thread as I'm grappling with similar thoughts. I have massively cut back on the amount of current affairs I consume, I tend to listen to the news just 3 times a week now, and my mental health is so much better for it. But I do feel a lot of guilt about not bearing witness to the world, not opening myself to empathise with everyone's struggles as often as I can... I think as a fellow HSP I have to remind myself that the news simply doesn't impact everyone the same way. And then maybe it is ok to bear witness from a little further away, as the impact on us will be the same. But I am still trying to make my mind up on this... Anyway, thank you for the brilliant post, Eden, and to you both for this discussion!