You Ain't Missing a Thing: The Value of a News Detox

A few years after finishing drama school a funny thing happened. I started browsing the aisles of my favorite book stores looking for biographies on people like Bobby Kennedy, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King, instead of Marlon Brando and James Dean. I was suddenly fascinated by politics and the world beyond the stage. I even applied to grad school again for a Masters in Public Policy. I'd sit in acting classes daydreaming about famous speeches, or thinking of ways I could make an impact in my community. During this time I didn't listen to news, I devoured it. I'd start my day off with NPR, read The Economist, and often spend an entire Sunday morning perusing the newspaper.

I was starting and ending my day with car chases, deficits, robberies, and murders. I felt my normally buoyant spirit suddenly weighted and my body literally taking on the stress of the world. What's more, all of this information wasn't helping anything. Yes, I knew more, but was inundated with knowledge of events I couldn't directly influence. I was also blinded by the fact that the news no longer informs but works to instill fear.

This year I decided to go on a "news detox." I'm happy to report the results have been overwhelmingly positive. I'm happier, calmer, and still somehow know enough to be informed, which I still believe is important. The difference is I now put my energy towards issues I can affect and much of that starts with the quality of my own presence in the world. 

As Paramahansa Yogananda once noted, "Change yourself and you have done your part in changing the world." 

 

Appreciate Instead of Emulate

For many years I fell into the same trap I believe a lot of young actors fall victim to. I devoured the biographies and films of actors like Brando, Dean, and Montgomery Clift. I watched the same interviews over and over hoping to gain greater insight into the aura these actors had created. And though I never tried to emulate them, I believed in order to create great art one needed to suffer, almost immeasurably.

But as I got older I realized that these men also lived profoundly unhappy lives. In many instances, they were held captive by their demons and inability to allow themselves to be who they really were. As as consequence, it seems like deep personal connections and happiness eluded them for most of their years. Great actors yes, but content with life? Not so much it seems.

In time I began to pick up on a few lessons: creative expression is not about martyrdom. It's about bringing our most authentic selves to a stage, a canvas, and film set. It's about expressing who we are at our core without allowing fear to hold us back in telling stories.

I also realized that life would present its own challenges along the way. One didn't need to seek them out. The more life experience one gained the more they'd be able to bring to their artistry. Courage was actually making the effort each day to live a life of fulfillment - a life of good contagion.

I still admire those actors for the work they contributed and their importance to the medium of storytelling. But I've learned to appreciate rather than emulate.