Historical documentaries about events that happened at least 100 years ago (the further back the better). I’ve learned a lot about medieval Europe. I’m getting into art history, which is fascinating. I’m streaming Shakespeare films and recorded plays - just found out that the 1964 “Hamlet” starring Richard Burton is on Amazon Prime, which is pretty thrilling for a nerd like me. And when I’m completely demoralized, I just watch one YouTube clip after another of Fred Astaire dancing.
I do read the news and agree that’s less agonizing than watching it. And right back to Fred Astaire again.
Bugs me when people make an attempt to not follow the news at all. I think the OP is right about cutting it with some activities that distract. But heads in the sand aren’t a good solution.
My son is a journalist, so I read his articles in a regional paper almost daily. It’s interesting to follow the issues in another community, almost like reading a novel, over time. Middlemarch.
"Bugs me when people make an attempt to not follow the news at all. But heads in the sand aren’t a good solution. "
Totally agree. This is also where an approach of only reading - versus watching - news is helpful. There is so much bias in reporting that if you’re watching news, it’s not just inefficient and jarring, it’s often biased so you’d need to watch several sources to get a balanced view of the underlying fact set. If you read your news instead, you can get to source data and summaries much more quickly, also minimizing the editorializing.
Example on the recent release of The Memo. Takes 2 seconds of internet search to find The Memo itself. If you’re interested in summary and commentary, it’s easy to search for that from a few different sources for balance. Total time - under 15 minutes and you have knowledge of the facts and a few views without feeling like the sky is falling…
I watch the cable commentator shows to hear their more intelligent, focused (and relevant) arguments. But it bugs me that doesn’t reach the “heads in the sand” folks. They aren’t tuned in to those channels.
Hard manual labor distracts, lol. And yes, volunteering.
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My wife has recently developed an interest in news, but knew little about how the government works. The West Wing has been not just entertaining, but also educational for her (as educational as a fictional show can be).
While we still had cable, I used to watch alot of CNN and MSNBC, even switching to those channels during commericls of other shows I was watching. We gave up cable over 1.5 years ago and I’m glad. Through an antenna, we have local channels and through Sling we can still get CNN, but I no longer watch as much news as I did in the past. I read the newspaper daily, but I can choose to skip articles - I probably spend more time reading the sports and lifestyle/arts sections than the news.
I’m very busy in RealWorld. Play tennis twice a week, go to yoga class, lunch and out for coffee with my girlfriends. Take long walks with pups weather permitting. I read two newspapers every morning while having my coffee to keep informed but nothing after that. I also turned off all notifications on my phone/tablet so my day doesn’t get derailed.
TV is mostly tennis tourneys (yay for 24/7 11 month season,) Netflix, Masterpiece Theatre, HGTV and trashy Bravo reality shows (my guilty pleasure:) I record almost all my shows and then binge on days I have nothing to do. Finished Grace & Frankie this week and started OITNB. It will be Victoria when I come back from vacay.
I read my book for an hour before bed (currently A Crack in Creation about gene editing and the power to control evolution) and then listen to my tennis podcasts to fall asleep to.
Although I’ve been a semi-professional photographer for a long time, I’m now more engrossed in it as an escape from today’s events. I love taking photos of wildlife in nature in absolute solitude. It’s a necessary nourishment for my soul.
I’ve started doing much more yoga and meditation. It calms me down. I’ve always done volunteer work and that hasn’t changed. My H (who recently retired) watches CNN and MSNBC non-stop. Sometimes, I’ll just ask him to turn it off, especially when he’s got it on while we are cooking. Another great distraction–H and I do the NYTimes crossword puzzle every day.
@tonymom and @katliamom - let’s get all the CC knitters together for a virtual knitting club - lol. Stay sane and finish some of those projects that have been on the needles for too long.
Most of my Facebook activity these days centers around a private fitness group and a closed group of women I run with. Reading/posting/thinking about fitness activities keeps a big part of my mind occupied.
I’ve cut way down on consumption. Most of it is histrionic nonsense anyway. The real news gets through, filtered through several media. I always hear about the important stuff.
What do I do to distract from the negativity of current events? I pick up my ukulele and play quietly - it’s very meditative (I also meditate for 60 minutes each evening around 5:30).
I binge watched West Wing last summer and was struck by some aspects that I’d missed in past viewings. There was much more lying, coverups, spins and deal making than I remembered, especially by the “good guys”. And sex scandals. Unless I’m mixing it up with Veep :)) .
I regularly watch one commentator who gives me lots of background on current issues. Otherwise I read the news feeds online and the newspaper. My biggest problem is DS, who likes to send me alarmist blogs, tweets, and articles. I try to calm him down with historical perspectives and wider government information, but he doesn’t really want to be rational. So sometimes I just say, enough, I follow the news.
Also I consider how the nation has weathered past periods of “ current events”, much of which was carried out in secret. I’d rather be aware thanks to lights being shined than kept in the dark. Much is scary but historically we make it through.
Then I go out and relax by the pool under the palm trees and enjoy the warm sunny days. Or go gaze out over the ocean waves.
