Saturday, September 24, 2005
Why do I subscribe to Happy News?
Have you realized how very much the media bombard us with bad news?
I usually avoid the news, with the exception of reading my favorite magazines: The Week -- http://theweekmagazine.com -- and Ode Magazine-- http://www.odemagazine.com .
Why do I do that? Because I think that my life is already stressfull and full of complications as it is without the aggravation of negativism. Why add insult to injury?
I had a very good example today. I went to my son's school to help out prepare for a great fund-raising opportunity for his class. The person in charge, an extremely organized and dedicated woman, I must add, had the radio on NPR, a news program of some sort. Don't get me wrong, I love NPR! Why I listen to the classical music all the time; but I am not too keen on hearing voices on the radio; I much prefer listening to great music only.
Anyway, so here we are, making sandwiches, cutting fruit, organizing trays, and having a great conversation, the lot of us who volunteered for the early morning shift. Except that the background was this "noise" of men speaking about Hurricane Rita. Now, don't get me wrong again; I too, am concerned about this issue, except that I find that hearing about it all the time will not solve the problem and I'd rather take action when the opportunity arises.
At one point, I asked the others if it was all right to turn the radio off. That background noise was irritating me. Everybody agreed. Ah, the silence! We continued our conversation about the Katrina and how we were helping the cause. It was grand, until the coordinator came back and, not only turned the radio on but turned it up as well. Shucks! We could never hear a good or empowering word again.
And then I asked myself: why do people do this? What purpose does it really serve except to provoke terror and more stress? I can't understand. So, to counteract that negative part of the morning, I decided to put a link to Happy News here. It is really a great site. Check also those two magazines that I mentioned above. They give you news all right, in a palatable way, however. Happy reading!
I usually avoid the news, with the exception of reading my favorite magazines: The Week -- http://theweekmagazine.com -- and Ode Magazine-- http://www.odemagazine.com .
Why do I do that? Because I think that my life is already stressfull and full of complications as it is without the aggravation of negativism. Why add insult to injury?
I had a very good example today. I went to my son's school to help out prepare for a great fund-raising opportunity for his class. The person in charge, an extremely organized and dedicated woman, I must add, had the radio on NPR, a news program of some sort. Don't get me wrong, I love NPR! Why I listen to the classical music all the time; but I am not too keen on hearing voices on the radio; I much prefer listening to great music only.
Anyway, so here we are, making sandwiches, cutting fruit, organizing trays, and having a great conversation, the lot of us who volunteered for the early morning shift. Except that the background was this "noise" of men speaking about Hurricane Rita. Now, don't get me wrong again; I too, am concerned about this issue, except that I find that hearing about it all the time will not solve the problem and I'd rather take action when the opportunity arises.
At one point, I asked the others if it was all right to turn the radio off. That background noise was irritating me. Everybody agreed. Ah, the silence! We continued our conversation about the Katrina and how we were helping the cause. It was grand, until the coordinator came back and, not only turned the radio on but turned it up as well. Shucks! We could never hear a good or empowering word again.
And then I asked myself: why do people do this? What purpose does it really serve except to provoke terror and more stress? I can't understand. So, to counteract that negative part of the morning, I decided to put a link to Happy News here. It is really a great site. Check also those two magazines that I mentioned above. They give you news all right, in a palatable way, however. Happy reading!
