I watched the news for the first time in a while last night. Now lest you get the impression that I have become some sort of hermit in my mountain aerie*, I do keep up with what's going on, but just by checking the online news every once in a while throughout the day. But yesterday my hubby flew into New Jersey, which has definitely been affected by Hurricane Irene, and after switching hotels because his was left without power, he was wowed by the footage of the damage on the nightly news and told me to watch.
I recorded three different news channels, but ended up watching Brian Williams, because he reminds me of my dad a little bit. He covered the hurricane damage at length and went on to talk about the Lockerbie bomber and what's going on in Tripoli. I was thinking that maybe I should start recording the news every night, because I was feeling smart and knowledgable, when he started covering the news that Beyonce was pregnant. !!! He seemed kind of embarassed that after all this important, world-changing news he had to cover the celebrity gossip as well, but played it off well by calling it a "life-affirming event amidst all the horrible things going on" or something to that effect.
I decided that maybe I wouldn't start recording the nightly news, because to tell the truth, the pregnancy of Beyonce probably will have the same effect on my life as the destruction of Tripoli, i.e. none. And you know what that means? That I care as much about pregnant Beyonce dancing around as tortured men in the hospital in Libya. And admitting that to myself made me feel lame, not smart and knowledgable.
*this word reminds me of the incident in church a couple Sundays ago when one of the Primary children's leaders was wandering around with her Aerie bag proudly displayed....don't judge, Noni, don't judge...
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2 comments:
The things people bring to church, right? I wasn't aware of that "new" line but I guess I am now.
I don't watch the news either. And every time I read it, I get the feeling like I should be doing more to help the world, but then can't think of what.
And then I think about how I don't have any right to complain about anything really because my life is so much better than say the person in Libya. But does that discredit my trials and afflictions completely? If the person in Libya were to live my life for a couple of years, would they start to feel that my petty problems were problems too? Or would they just continue to feel grateful that they don't have to deal with what they had before? I often wonder things like that...and usually just end up feeling guilty.
I really do believe in living life with gratitude instead of guilt for all we have. First off, we can't give back if we don't have anything to give, and secondly, I think trials of the first world can be as difficult in their own way as third-world trials. Anyway, I guess watching the news made me feel like I was watching everything presented for its entertainment value (flooding! destruction! rebels! Gaddafi! Beyonce!) rather than to educate myself.
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