From a Journalist’s Point of View

I once read a quote that went something along the lines of this:

The problem with the cellphone is that it is a lens into our entire world. People are bombarded with issues and concerns that do not affect them but are difficult to look away from. By holding this lens in our hand, we feel responsible and connected to every disaster, injustice, and disservice, and the human mind was not designed for that.

I wish I had the exact quote, because I did not do it justice in my paraphrase, but I think I was able to express the original author’s sentiment. We take on other people’s problems because we carry around a little device that is constantly shoving them into our faces.

It’s so easy to become outraged, especially when you see others doing so. People like to mob up and like the great George Carlin once said,

People are wonderful. I love individuals. I hate groups of people. I hate a group of people with a “common purpose.”

Cause pretty soon they have little hats. And armbands. And fight songs. And a list of people they’re going to visit at 3am.

So, I dislike and despise groups of people but I love individuals.

Every person you look at; you can see the universe in their eyes, if you’re really looking.

I’ve been thinking a lot about my general unease lately and my frustrations. It’s easy to blame it on the internet, politics, or the downfall of civilization, but I can’t control any of those things, and as hard as I’ve tried to reason with my thoughts and judgements, I don’t make a lot of headway there either.

I’ve come to realize that I need to reframe how I take information in. This idea has been shared in various forms such as Brene Brown’s “being curious” and Ethan Kross’ “fly on the wall perspective” but neither verbiage connected with me. I understood the concept, but I couldn’t find a way to put it into action. Until now.

Following the reading of Choke, I was watching an interview with Chuck Palahniuk. I always find him so engaging. He approaches things from such a calm and rational angle, even the rage inducing and depressing elements. For example, I was reading an interview a few months ago regarding the escalation of violence towards the rich and powerful. Instead of ranting about wealth inequality, he mentioned how it seemed we were simply repeating the same cycle from the 60s and 70s. Peaceful protest didn’t work, so eventually violence begins.

There were no emotions or hit pieces against capitalism, it was just an observation offered up calmly.

I think that is why I enjoy listening to him speak, because he’s always so eloquent and levelheaded. In his own words from Fight Club, he has the ability to let all that truly does not matter slide.

As I watched and listened to this more recent interview, I realized the reason why he’s able to not only write the way that he does (dealing with uncomfortable and at times grotesque situations) but he’s able to function in a world gone mad because he doesn’t take on the worlds problems. Instead, he observes them, from a distance. As a trained journalist, he’s able to step back and find the story without trying to become part of the story and that’s when it clicked for me. That is how to be curious or act like a fly on the wall.

So, I’ve been practicing this over the last few days, and it has made an incredible difference in my day-to-day. Instead of getting incredibly pissed off throughout the day, I’m able to put some space between myself and the event or person. I look at it like an assignment. What is the story here? What led him to act that way? How would I share this story?

I stopped with the whole: Why did he do this to me? What made him do this to me? I’m so fucking mad at him and this whole terrible world. Everything is on fire, and I just wish an asteroid would hurry up and end this nightmare.

I stopped putting myself in every story. I transitioned from first person to third person and what a difference that has made. It’s only been a few days, so I’m not sure if this is a temporary reprieve from the insanity of life, but I’m hoping that maybe I found a new tool for my mental toolbox. Maybe, I found a way to stop using this lens and focusing on the world’s problems and taking them on myself, and instead, observing them without emotional attachment.