I’m not a journalist but perhaps an over-consumer of media. This is excellent advice. You and Meghan are the two places where I can always go to get calm, interesting, nuanced and less partisan viewpoints.
Great column, sage advice. Five years ago I was a fierce keyboard warrior. When I came to the realization that I was a part of the problem in creating the hate-filled polarization in this country, I stopped cold turkey. Since then I have maintained a civil response to every person I have engaged with online. I have consciously considered opposing viewpoints to my own, several times I have changed my opinion. My stress level has decreased significantly. Around that time I joined several Facebook groups focused on interests I have outside of politics. I engage with people of all races, cultures, countries, etc. I learned the importance of respecting the culture of people from other countries, and have come to appreciate those cultures and people tremendously. I have communicated with some who are scornful of America, but the overwhelming majority I have communicated with are respectful and appreciative of the United States. To provide some perspective on myself, I am a 69 yo moderate republican and I love your substack. If I were younger I would take your advice and get a dog. As it is, my days are busy keeping up with my 19 yo autistic son. He brings lightness and joy to my life daily.
Letting go. As time goes by (I turned 68 yesterday), the more I understand and try to view the world through the lens of Stoic philosophy; the more I appreciate the dichotomy of control. Focus on what you can control - your virtues of temperance, wisdom, courage, and justice - and don't worry about things you cannot control. Let it go. Especially the weather... and politics. Happy Sunday, Tara!
Although my daily work in the news was in an adjunct role to journalists, I worked with them, day in and day out, for nineteen years. Leaving that job and the big city behind to move to a small town (pop: 800) was a both a massive adjustment for someone who had only known big-city life for over half a century and possibly the single best thing I have done for my personal sanity.
Excellent list. It applies to far more than Journalists, and could be great advice to everyone. Living in a bubble world is dangerous, no matter who you are, because you are out of touch with reality.
Then comes the day when reality asserts itself.....
Your points about relationship being key is critical especially when combined with your points 5 (diverse friends), 6 (Get out of your comfort zone), 7 (get to know people who think different than you).
I grew up in a strict Evangelical Protestant Church. The best thing I ever did was to move into a Catholic Community. Why? Because I grew up hearing that Catholicism was all wrong. Now I had to live & work with them 24 hours a day. I ended up marrying a Catholic. Today, I have issues with both Catholicism, & Evangelical Protestantism, however I do not judge them as individuals because I know at their core, they are all good people doing the best that they can with what they are given. (Point 11)
I also know that having no faith, or no moral structure is the most dangerous position because anything goes. (point 10) People with no moral values can lie, cheat, steal because in that world, all that matters is getting ahead.
All us humans are some form of crazy. How we deal with our crazy is what defines us. You have to be able to deal with your crazy effectively in order to build solid relationships. Solid relationships force you to live for something outside yourself, which gives meaning to life.
This is a nice article and all, pulled right from the inside cover of Chicken Soup for the Soul. So pleasant a read for those readers enjoying a cappuccino in their local cafe on a Sunday morning. But your subtitle: how to stay sane in a world gone mad? I was excited for a second thinking you were going to explain why you think the world has gone mad (maybe you do that on Meghan's podcast - a summary would have been good here) and when you didn't, I wondered, why do you think it's gone mad? I don't think it's gone mad. I think it's going exactly according to plan, from certain perspectives. And what a cop-out to just sum up everything that's happening in the world like that! How positively UN-journalistic! Throwing around phrases like 'the world has gone mad' is not heterodox thinking; it's the way legacy media wants you to think. Swing harder, Tara.
Good advise (mostly) Tara. Except for one: Do not get a dog! That is horrible advice and dogs don't belong cooped up in one's apartment, nor being obnoxious around everyone else. Dogs do not take the place of people. Please!
I’m not a journalist but perhaps an over-consumer of media. This is excellent advice. You and Meghan are the two places where I can always go to get calm, interesting, nuanced and less partisan viewpoints.
Great column, sage advice. Five years ago I was a fierce keyboard warrior. When I came to the realization that I was a part of the problem in creating the hate-filled polarization in this country, I stopped cold turkey. Since then I have maintained a civil response to every person I have engaged with online. I have consciously considered opposing viewpoints to my own, several times I have changed my opinion. My stress level has decreased significantly. Around that time I joined several Facebook groups focused on interests I have outside of politics. I engage with people of all races, cultures, countries, etc. I learned the importance of respecting the culture of people from other countries, and have come to appreciate those cultures and people tremendously. I have communicated with some who are scornful of America, but the overwhelming majority I have communicated with are respectful and appreciative of the United States. To provide some perspective on myself, I am a 69 yo moderate republican and I love your substack. If I were younger I would take your advice and get a dog. As it is, my days are busy keeping up with my 19 yo autistic son. He brings lightness and joy to my life daily.
Letting go. As time goes by (I turned 68 yesterday), the more I understand and try to view the world through the lens of Stoic philosophy; the more I appreciate the dichotomy of control. Focus on what you can control - your virtues of temperance, wisdom, courage, and justice - and don't worry about things you cannot control. Let it go. Especially the weather... and politics. Happy Sunday, Tara!
Although my daily work in the news was in an adjunct role to journalists, I worked with them, day in and day out, for nineteen years. Leaving that job and the big city behind to move to a small town (pop: 800) was a both a massive adjustment for someone who had only known big-city life for over half a century and possibly the single best thing I have done for my personal sanity.
Excellent list. It applies to far more than Journalists, and could be great advice to everyone. Living in a bubble world is dangerous, no matter who you are, because you are out of touch with reality.
Then comes the day when reality asserts itself.....
Your points about relationship being key is critical especially when combined with your points 5 (diverse friends), 6 (Get out of your comfort zone), 7 (get to know people who think different than you).
I grew up in a strict Evangelical Protestant Church. The best thing I ever did was to move into a Catholic Community. Why? Because I grew up hearing that Catholicism was all wrong. Now I had to live & work with them 24 hours a day. I ended up marrying a Catholic. Today, I have issues with both Catholicism, & Evangelical Protestantism, however I do not judge them as individuals because I know at their core, they are all good people doing the best that they can with what they are given. (Point 11)
I also know that having no faith, or no moral structure is the most dangerous position because anything goes. (point 10) People with no moral values can lie, cheat, steal because in that world, all that matters is getting ahead.
All us humans are some form of crazy. How we deal with our crazy is what defines us. You have to be able to deal with your crazy effectively in order to build solid relationships. Solid relationships force you to live for something outside yourself, which gives meaning to life.
This is a nice article and all, pulled right from the inside cover of Chicken Soup for the Soul. So pleasant a read for those readers enjoying a cappuccino in their local cafe on a Sunday morning. But your subtitle: how to stay sane in a world gone mad? I was excited for a second thinking you were going to explain why you think the world has gone mad (maybe you do that on Meghan's podcast - a summary would have been good here) and when you didn't, I wondered, why do you think it's gone mad? I don't think it's gone mad. I think it's going exactly according to plan, from certain perspectives. And what a cop-out to just sum up everything that's happening in the world like that! How positively UN-journalistic! Throwing around phrases like 'the world has gone mad' is not heterodox thinking; it's the way legacy media wants you to think. Swing harder, Tara.
Good advise (mostly) Tara. Except for one: Do not get a dog! That is horrible advice and dogs don't belong cooped up in one's apartment, nor being obnoxious around everyone else. Dogs do not take the place of people. Please!
Sorry Tara...
Why do you think journalists are somehow unique? These are just rules for life. Make your bed.