Why positive news matters
Bad news impacts our mental health
As I wrote in my last post, if someone asks you if all is well, your answer depends on the scale of your perspective of the world in which we live. Maybe all is well for you but not for your country.
In my last article, I illustrated this thought by looking at three levels. I started from the macro perspective and concluded that nearby planets are doing well; perhaps Mars or Jupiter's moon Europa turn out to be (or to have been) more lively than the dead-quiet place we thought they were.
But then I got to the intermediate scale, at the country level, and started to catch up on the latest news of the war in Ukraine. After a few articles, I was so fed up with the world we live in that I called it a day and didn't even start my writing about the third and smallest scale to look at our world. And that third level is you, your family, your house, or the community you live in. My happy memories of a warming Ottawa under a blue sky faded after reading about the atrocities committed in Ukraine.
If you are asked if all is well, it is that most miniature scale of you and your community that you will first refer to. But this writing experience, where I couldn't jump from war crimes to sunny skies in Canada, made me wonder if I am the only one whose happiness has been affected by the world news.
After reading up on this question, I believe that I am in the company of many. This may have to do with the way news is reported. In the past few decades, the tone has become more passionate, and it is becoming more visual and frightening. We now have permanent access to news via our smartphones and other devices. There is no breaking news when the tulips bloom or puppies are born, but your phone starts buzzing when shocking news is breaking.
There is mounting evidence that bad news can significantly impact our mental health, leading to increased anxiety, despair, and acute stress reactions. Real-time colorful pictures have effectively brought the news audience to the scene of an event. Many people watching the most shocking images of the war in Ukraine will experience emotional reactions as if they were there physically.
Bad news sells
Negative information can alter your mood, causing worry and despair and exacerbating your concerns and anxieties. Unfortunately, the news is often a commercial product, and bad news sells. My newsletter would sell much better if the heading of this article was something like "why the atrocities in Bucha are bad for your mental health." And I could add the subtitle: "But there are five ways to sleep better tonight, and number four will surprise you."
Don't worry, I won't.
This brings me to what I will write about. As last year's early subscribers may remember, I had a long summer season with sunny news. While I stayed on the Dutch island, I mostly wrote about personal experiences, time in nature, local history and architecture, or stories, photos, or videos about my life on the island. Articles like this one.
On this first warm day of the year in Ottawa that reminded us that summer is coming, I look forward to going back into a summer mood on The Planet newsletter. In a few weeks, I will start a more than four months trip. With your agreement, I plan to change the concept of this newsletter for this period. I will aim for more frequent but shorter posts with lighter content. I plan to share more on travel, nature, history, culture, art, or photography and less on negative news, war, and politics. This is not a strict limitation, and environmental issues will always be in this newsletter.
Sunny summer articles in The Planet
So I hope to share more, shorter, more visual, and lighter content for these summer months. However, I am making this newsletter for you, so let me know what you prefer. I don't shy away from bad news, but there is already so much published, impacting many people's mental health. My guess is that most readers prefer more sunny articles in the summer.
I hope you will agree; let me know what you prefer (replying to the email is easiest, or use the public comments).
If you got this far, please read this too: I write these newsletters, share my photos, do interviews, make podcasts about the environment, and share my travels because I believe that together we can do better on this beautiful but fragile planet.
I like what I do, and I hope you like it too since this is my work.
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notes:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/why-we-worry/202009/the-psychological-impact-negative-news
Luna, like my Monkey & Magic, have the healthiest idea to calmly look outside at the birds, trees & skies. The continuous “breaking news” is exhausting & depressing but even more exasperating are the “experts” analyzing every possible move & outcome as we all watch people suffer & die. I greatly admire the brave & proud Ukrainian people as well as the countries giving their citizens refuge. Have a safe & inspired journey, Alex!!!
“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.” ~Lao Tzu
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