“Stress overload makes us stupid. Solid research proves it. When we get overstressed, it creates a nasty chemical soup in our brains that makes it hard to pull out of the anxious depressive spiral’. Gail Sheehy
My husband, Michael, and I had dinner and a riveting conversation with Gail Sheehy this week. Gail is an American author, journalist, and lecturer and is the author of seventeen books, including Passages, named one of the ten most influential books of our times by the Library of Congress. She’s in San Miguel de Allende for the annual Writer’s Conference (https://sanmiguelwritersconference.org/) that happens each year. Last year I got to know Gail well because I had the opportunity to escort her during last years event. It was an incredible experience!
One of the things that struck me during our conversation this week with Gail is when she said that since the Trump election, she woke up each morning at 5:30AM to see what had happened during the night and discover the new breaking news for the day. Of course, she’s a writer and is sought after to write articles, give comments, etc. about these news so I understand this but, to me, all I could think about was “information overload” and the resulting stress. I’m finding it’s almost impossible to keep up with this news, are you?
Because of my experience with Gail, I checked out some information about this and found a very interesting article that I’d like to share with you. It’s an article by the New York Times about being fatigued by the news. I particularly liked the cartoon, by David Sipress, showing a couple walking together, with the woman saying, “My desire to be well-informed is currently at odds with my desire to remain sane.” I can totally relate. There are some ideas about how to cope with this overload and I would really encourage you to think about this. I am.
Some practices I am following for now:
1. Meditating daily
2. Limiting my input of news from the media
3. Limiting my input from Facebook and other social media
4. Spending time with my friends and family in conversation not related to the current news
5. Increasing my fun quotient- finding ways to have more fun—dancing, listening to music, reading, laughing, watching fun movies, etc.
These are just a few. What about you?
I’d love to hear from you at docbeverly@aol.com about your thoughts.
Beverly
P.S.There won’t be a newsletter next week because my husband and I will be out of town to visit family. Unplugging from information overload!
