Trying to Quit

I keep telling myself I am going to stop watching the news. But I can’t seem to do it. It is like some horrible addiction. If I turn off the TV, hide The New York Times, and never allow my browser to go to www.cnn.com I would be fine. But I keep getting drawn back in.

I liken it to an alcoholic who finds themselves in an endless sea of bars where everyone is offering them a drink. They say no and then start to weaken. Maybe just a little sip. What could that hurt? They think this time it will be different. They’ll be able to handle it. But it isn’t. They can’t.

Now that I work out of my house, I feel I have to connect with the media every so often just in case there is something important happening out there that might affect my day. Like the 1 train not running. Or the Dow going back above 7000.

But I am trying to break this habit, because frankly the news is just too depressing. It sucks the creativity right out of me and leaves me not able to write a word, staring off into the abyss, praying that the world will not end before I get my novels published. It keeps me stuck when I want to move forward.

I’m thinking that the answer is Jon Stewart as my primary source of news. He seems to have a handle on things. A case in point was his rant last week on CNBC. And no matter how absurd or bad the news is that day, at least he makes me laugh.

It’s either that or calling Al Anon and seeing if they’ll set up a new group for news junkies. Recovery would be a good thing for all of us and might even help the economy.