That Time I Stopped Consuming News

In the age of the Internet where information is at our literal fingertips, choosing to be less informed and actually doing it can be quite the challenge. But I can happily say, that I rose to the challenge and did it for a decent stretch of time!

For about 6 months I purposely abstained from knowing things, being aware of world news and local news, as well as forgoing the connection with others on most social media outlets.

Not going to lie, it was tough and not very easy to do. The first few weeks I had many moments of weakness where I checked Twitter real quick or browsed headlines on my Google news app.

I never thought a day would come where the need to abstain from knowledge would be real.

Due to the political landscape of our country at the start of this year I had to force myself to be naive. I was consumed by fear, anger, among many other negative emotions. Why? Well it was because I couldn’t comprehend how we could manage to elect such a person to the most powerful office of our nation and how our society was turning on one another. It pained me that hate was rampantly growing and innocent people who happened to have the “wrong” racial makeup feared for their safety. Not to mention on a global scale, there are so many who are in dire need of help. And with all this going on, I felt utterly hopeless and useless.

I knew I had to choose my battle, would it be the injustice I felt from nature or the injustice the world felt. It was an incredibly tough decision to turn inwards and focus on myself. I don’t know if I could have done it if my husband wasn’t also being impacted and supporting the change in lifestyle.

After all, this was a self-imposed sentence of self-deprivation of knowledge. I don’t recall the exact age I became determined to always be in the know, to be aware if not fully informed — when it came to world news and events. But it’s been pretty much my whole adult life; so at least 16 years.

My Motivation and Reason to Abstain

I had a choice to make and I knew I couldn’t let politics keep me from attaining what my husband and I deeply desired. I knew that though I couldn’t change the political landscape, I did have the power over my own mind, body, and soul. There was no one else to fight this for my husband and I; it had to be me. Being diagnosed as infertile was soul crushing and I knew the treatments I was choosing to undergo would be both physically and emotionally challenging.

Refusing to cancel my daily recording of BBC news that airs on PBS every weekday morning, I chose instead to (reluctantly) delete each episode. But doing this somehow made me feel better, reminding me that it was my choice.

After a while I had to move my FB shortcut on my phone to the trash. I didn’t delete the app entirely because I needed it for work. But I quickly learned to jump straight to the page I needed and avoid my personal news feed.

We had to get the family on board to avoid political and news discussions while I was around. Which I didn’t’ realize how tough it would be until seeing the look on my father’s face and hearing my niece’s distress that we won’t get to watch Trever Noah together. I didn’t realize how typical of a conversation topic it was between us all.

Changing my Mindset

What I learned from this experiment of abstaining from the news, was how to remain empathetic but not let it become all consuming. I was able to truly find peace of mind, not knowing what was happening across the world and not knowing which public figure disappointed America the most that week. Though it was very disconcerting to not know what people were referring to during political conversations at social gatherings, eventually I learned how to handle the situation.

One of the reasons I was able to find peace of mind was because I was forced to simplify my thoughts. Simplify my every day routine. I no longer spent multiple hours staying in the know. I suddenly had more time in my day to just be and had time to hone in my newly learnt relaxation techniques.

Also, being away from the constant influx of “bad news” allowed me to decompress in ways I haven’t in years. Allowed me the freedom to be more mindful of my own movements, behaviors, and thoughts every day.

Finding Strength and Peace

I was able to find that willpower to not open up my former go-to apps on my phone. Instead I built up a habit to open up my Kindle app and read, escape into another world with my imagination. I find reading fiction to be very nourishing to my soul, and this in turn helped me better cope with the physical and emotional reactions to the treatments.

Though I have not attained what I hoped; as of yet. I have attained a stronger sense of myself, confidence that I can do what is needed for my family, and that I can truly find inner peace — even if it’s in short bursts — by controlling what information I seek out. This reenergizes me and gives me all that more power to do more, keep hope alive, and most importantly it helps me find a way to keep a positive mindset.

You can control very little in the grand scheme of things in the world and in life. I had to do what I could to control my environment because the meds were going to keep me on a constant rollercoaster of emotions regardless.

Slow Regression

Though I enjoyed the peace I found, I feel ready for a new version of this challenge. So I’ve slowly begun to seek out information by watching BBC news with breakfast and reconnecting on social apps a few times a week; mind you I haven’t gone back to my old habits in full swing.

I am aiming to find a way to balance my desire to know what is happening in my community and the world — with my own peace of mind and sense of calm.

In time, I’m certain I will find my balance. For now I’ll focus on doing what I need to keep positive and have peace of mind, while sprinkling a few dollops of news here and there.



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Jesal Dholakia Gandhi

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Artisan-Scribe | Using my words to inspire

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