I keep a journal, I'm diligent about my morning pages and once in a blue moon, I'll write an article or an essay that gets published somewhere. Writing every day for a month at a time via NaBloPoMo has proven to be excellent mental floss. It never fails to shake something loose creatively, especially if I'm spreading that information around. Spring is almost here. I've been growing a lot of ideas. It's time for them to bloom.
When it comes to news, most people I know trust Reddit or Twitter before they'll tune into a network. I don't trust any of them, so I'm constantly cross-referencing whatever I can get my hands on until the mosaic of information that I collect gives me a three-dimensional picture of what's really going on. Sorting through bits of "newsworthy" flotsam is such a constant, I do it without thinking about it. All manner of trivia gets stuck in my head that isn't necessarily newsworthy. Like the weather in Bora Bora vs. Walla Walla, or what A'lelia Walker's last meal was or what happened at Attica or overtly racist white people who justify their cultural appropriation or fun details about Freud's cross-dressing niece Tom. And having wide-ranging conversations with people who are smarter than me is really important because that's a wonderful way to grow and learn new things.
The problem is, most people don't know how to think critically. It's not what's taught in schools, which is why most people don't know how to argue a point with any real clarity or insight. They repeat what they heard or what they're emotionally clinging to or what some conservative news outlet told them. They're too emotionally attached to what they're saying to be truly objective. Or they're just flat-out not listening to what is being said. All of this is compounded by the fact that they usually have a conflated sense of self that won't allow them to admit any of this.
Meh. MPB is right. It's better to not engage in the first place.
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