Staying Sane Amid the Daily Dope Stories

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In the media biz, the game is to come up with a new morning line. So if you have been reading the usual papers, social media commentary, and following NPR, CNN, MSNBC et al., you are probably close to nervous prostration.

One day, Trump is crashing and Biden is pulling away! The next day, Biden is weak on the campaign trail, and Trump is resurging.

The day after, Biden is strong in the suburbs. Or maybe he isn’t. Then comes the Supreme Court fight, which could galvanize the Democratic base. Or perhaps it could energize Trump supporters.

Plus the new daily revelations on the Russian trolls, the postal-ballot mess, the voter suppression. But if Biden is far enough ahead, it doesn’t matter. Then again, maybe he’s not far enough ahead.

And so on. For the next six weeks.

Arggh!

We all need to organize and mobilize to vote, of course. But that’s not the same as media addiction.

My advice is to obsess a lot less on the daily political tick-tock. It’s all ephemeral. Turn it off. Catch up on old movies while you are sheltering in place. Read some good novels or better yet some poetry.

I have to do this for a living, and even I have had my fill. I’m reading Zach Carter’s fine book on Keynes, and rereading Ulysses, which I last read in college.

I especially recommend the poems of Mary Oliver. Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

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