When there are slow times at work I have an opportunity to take a look at the news and what is going on in the world. Lately I have been, not only tired, just overwhelmed not by the volume (even though there is quite a bit), but more by the sheer repetition and inanity of all that we call "The News". Oddly enough I find John Stewart and Steven Colbert more relevant and entertaining than say Rick Sanchez on CNN. (Although Rick does try...No, wait...Twitter as news?!...come on Rick!) At least the comedians don't pretend that what they are saying is important, or they do and that is what makes it funny. Either way they win!
Then there is the ever slobbering horde of advertisements for the next "new" thing, the next "new" band, the next "new" fashion design, the next "new" car. Blech! Getting burned out on all of it.
I think a similar thing happened when I traveled around Europe quite a bit. Everything was new and exciting, but then the tourist sheen slowly wore off. The veneer of what I thought Europe was really fell away after a while. I got tired of paying exorbitant prices to see dead rich people's stuff. The art museums I never got tired of but I could never stay long enough to satisfy me. Eventually I became a sort of tour guide for others before I left. I was glad others had a good time, but really couldn't have cared less about seeing monuments to dead people their accomplishments, victories, triumphs, and greatness.
The old is past and gone, the new is constantly being shoved down my throat, where is the balance? I don't need to know about all the tiny details of thousands of things every second. Most of what passes for news has zero impact on my life. What actually has an impact will be lost in the blur because it is boring, mundane, or otherwise obscured. We all got along fine when newspapers came out once a day. We all lived just fine when we didn't have cell phones. I still had something to eat without the internet. I am not complaining about advances, I wish I didn't feel like they ran my life so much. Also what good are all the advances in the world if I have difficulty connecting with people, or something deeper then the now?
I have had a desire to sweep away all that doesn't matter in my life and focus on what does. If I am distracted but never take the time to focus then I will always be distracted. Something that lasts longer than the next quarterly report, something that lasts longer than a year, something that lasts and brings tradition and a tiny bit of order would be nice.
"...and that's the news. Fred what have we got next?"
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