Push Me

At first, when the Covid-19 pandemic took foothold, I was eager for new, accurate information. I saw my state’s numbers and decided it would be good to keep an eye on them, so I opted for push notifications. When I asked them to push me, I hardly realized how much they would. Several times per day notifications stream into my device, sounding a quiet gong to let me know there’s something new. It’s been 55 days – sheltering in place – and my craving for information has led to a steady stream of vomitus garbage. Thank you, media. (click to Tweet)

Initially, when the virus was new, the information was useful. There was an evident mark of the country working together to get the most brilliant minds around this crisis and avert a worse case scenario. Gradually, it changed to finger pointing, then to hysteria by some. Now, it’s click-bait garbage that has no business in a sound mind, and certainly no place in my everyday life. Still, I hear a gong and take a peek like a poorly bred Pavlovian dog.

If there’s one thing the media is brilliant at, it’s creating a train-wreck in such a twisted fashion we can’t bear to look away. Providing unbiased information that prompts thoughtful discussion and solution making seems to be way beyond their scope. I’m not talking about the polar edges – Fox and CNN – I’m talking about all of it. NPR, I’ve seen your bias. OAN you, too. Talking heads – pure editorial drivel. Are you still giving them rent in your mind?

Truth is, none of us really know what we face. There’s no real oversight for the misinformation they cloak as “news.”  (Click to Tweet) Truth is, I’m so sick of people  who use this crisis as a soapbox for their political ideologies I could just puke all over them…gosh, that would be awesome! (I KNOW, not nice).

Initially, I was hopeful we’d collectively find some depth and common ground in this crisis, and many, many of us have. I want to tease these evolved souls apart from the shafted chaff and surround myself with the evolved forever! There was a great hope we’d learn to be civil, perhaps even kind. I still yearn for that, but it seems some of our fellow beings lack the aptitude to move beyond the shallow waters of the ugly business we had begun to accept as ‘usual.’ Don’t we all want a loving, peaceful world? And, I find myself wondering, if this global pandemic doesn’t do it, what will it take?

 

 

Michelle Andres is a writer and artist who cultivates her own WellLived
Life by drinking in the beauty around her, following her passions, respecting others and doing her best to own her own dookie.

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