They say a journey starts with a single step—-If that’s true, I’m a few inches down the road . . .

A few months ago, I posted a comment on Facebook about the news and how tired I was of all the anger I’m encountering there. The lack of civility condoned on news interview programs distresses me; the willingness of interviewers to shout down their interviewees makes me cringe. Everywhere I turn there’s a strange gleeful nastiness, a righteous indignation on the news and infotainment programs, on blogs and in comments.

I mentioned my concerns on that FB post and several people responded. One suggested I start a movement. Her idea, I think, was to get everyone to protest the quality of news delivery and content today. But I didn’t want to put more anger out into the world, or to assume a righteous indignation myself.

So, I took my little movement in a slightly different direction. I decided to start “Turn off the news day.” It’s an astoundingly—deceptively—simple concept. All I want to do is to influence people to free themselves from “the news” for a day. No problem, right?
Well . . . what is the “news?”

There are the obvious answers and that’s what most people assumed: television and radio news broadcasts. However, I started to wonder if that wasn’t far too limited. What about all the political blogs I visit daily? What about shows like “Entertainment Tonight” or “Hollywood Access”? What about sports programs—or their announcements during real-time games? What about magazines? Or the newsletters and e-mails I receive from other authors about their newest books being published? What about church or synagogue e-alerts?

News is everywhere. And while I don’t advocate burying your head in the sand, I think it’s instructional to look at where we get our information about other people’s business and how that information—the way it’s delivered, the content, the tone and so forth–affects us on all levels.

As a result, once a month, I’m turning off the news—every kind of news I can deliberately avoid (other than recaps of my children’s and husband’s days)—and taking a full 24 hours to live my normal life without the influence of other’s voices.

I’m not making “a statement” or trying to influence anyone else. I’m just discovering the power—and the pleasure—of taking this small, simple action.

A few people have joined me in this process. You’re welcome to, too. See: http://www.facebook.com/DanceOfTheSpirit#!/pages/Turn-off-the-news-day/145889748780917

Peace,
Pari

“It is only when we silent the blaring sounds of our daily existence that we can finally hear the whispers of truth that life reveals to us, as it stands knocking on the doorsteps of our hearts.”
(a quote by K.T. Jong)

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[DOTS is honored to have Pari Noskin Taichert be part of our team. She is a critically-acclaimed writer whose works include many great reads, among them the Sasha Solomon mystery adventure series: THE CLOVIS INCIDENT — now available on Kindle and in other e-book formats, THE BELEN HITCH, and THE SOCORRO BLAST. (Also available at Amazon.com and bookstores everywhere!)

To learn more about Pari, go to: www.parinoskintaichert.com AND/OR www.leftcoastcrime.org/2011 AND/OR www.murderati.com]