Black Lives Matter. Blue Lives Matter. White Lives Matter. If your social media isn't filled with this then I'm glad. It's difficult every morning to get up and read the news and hear about another bombing, another shooting, another coup. What does a normal person do about this? How does someone, anyone keep reading this day after day?
http://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/trauma/basics/media-coverage-traumatic-events.asp
This above link may seem incredibly long, but the government has decided to put together data showing the harmful effects of violent news on people. It covers September 11, 2001, the Oklahoma City Bombings, and more it shows that viewing these things can alter your mood, and even in some extreme cases cause PTSD.
I have no idea what to do. I want to be informed of what is going on around me, but it seems like, after reading the findings from that study that it's actually harmful to my health to care what is going on in the world. The thing is I just want to talk to someone about what is going on. I want to have a civil discussion.
Everyone I run into seems to have their own opinion about what is going on in the world. I do to, but I think from now on I'm going to be a little bit more reserved. Not because I don't care what people are thinking or because I'm a rude person but because I want to listen to them. I want to hear what they are saying.
The more time I talk to people and find out what they believe I realize I know very little and my world view seems to be pretty small. I'm afraid most people are in the same position. I think in our own way we all see things so black and white and that's a big problem in the country. We need to talk less and listen more.
It's a hard thing to quiet your mind and actually listen to someone else. Most of the time we are living life on cruise control and only look up once and a while to notice people around us. I'm gonna try not to do that tomorrow. I'm just gonna say hello and ask how someone's day was on the train. Maybe that's all it will take.
Let me know if you want to talk in the comments below.