Friday 3 January 2014

Is the news just a form of live entertainment?

Several very sane people I know have been avoiding watching the news for many years now. I've joined them! Yes I still get a national paper - The Independent - but with this I get to choose what I read which is very little. In fact most days I don't watch television, I have too many other priorities, many of which involve real people who live nearby and satisfying projects like exploring playing the clarinet, the allotment and house 'improvements' . This for me is real life - I've had enough of experiencing it through other people.

The other change that is going on in my life - I'm becoming far more of a listener and am developing the skill of getting people I meet to 'open up' and talk about themselves. I used to see other people cross over the road when they saw me coming because I blasted them with enthusiastic 'talk'. Now I do that 'talking' here on this blog and people have the choice of 'listening' only if they want to. In the real world outside I have lots of people that provide me with fascinating interactions that are far more enjoyable than watching bland, action packed 'news'. For me the people down the road provide my tele enjoyment, this is 'news' that I can get involved with and listening has become an important part of that.

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