How much information do we really need to know.

I wish some days I could just live in a bubble. A bubble that only allowed a small amount of reality to seep in each day. A bubble where bad things did not happen constantly, and where days seemed long and peaceful and not so rushed.

I am sure we all feel that way at times.

I feel like I used to live in that bubble. When I was young. When we did not have so much information in front of us all of the time.

I know, I sound old. Just like my parents sounded to me.

We live in an information world. We can know anything we want to know almost instantly. But we also hear about things we really don't need to know, also instantly. And constantly. Over and over and over again.

Sometimes it feels like a drug. Something that we feel we need. Something we can escape into.

And I don't think that is always such a good thing.

We hear about bad things. A lot. Things that stress us out everywhere we look. Sometimes it feels like there is no escaping it.

24 hour news programs on TV. Talk radio in the car. The Internet on our phone, in our laps, in restaurants and coffee shops. No escape. Not really.

And most of it is just simply junk news. I don't really care about a lot of it. Nor do I need to know most of it.

And how many times do I need to hear about the weather? Last time I checked, I could just simply walk outside and see for myself.

Our kids are getting too much information as well. Many times before they can even really comprehend it. And I think it adds too much unneeded stress to their lives. And I think; no, I know, that stress is quite dangerous to our health.

Many people talk about eating right and exercising. But I hear very little about tuning out. About getting away from all the information garbage that we are exposed to each and every day, for hours on end.

Sometimes we go up to our secluded house in New Hampshire. I love it up there. No Internet. No TV really, except to watch a movie. No cellphone reception. We rarely get any news up there at all. And we don't miss it.

I feel great up there; no pressure, lazy days even when there is work to be done. We talk more, we interact more. One night it was so quiet, I had trouble sleeping because I kept hearing my own heart beating.

And then we return home. We rush to the computer to see what we have missed. We turn on the TV, check the cellphones for messages. We want to be sure we have not missed anything.

And, of course, we haven't.

And background noise once again fills our lives.

We tune into what we really don't need to know and tune out what is most important. Namely, each other. And ourselves.

Not good. Not good at all.

So I think we should try to unplug occasionally. To live in the little bubble of our own lives. To tune out the unnecessary noise.

I think it is a very healthy thing to do. Part of a healthy lifestyle. Just like eating right, exercising and brushing our teeth.

We need to make it a daily habit.


“Information is not knowledge.” ~~~Albert Einstein

“I have a theory about the human mind. A brain is a lot like a computer. It will only take so many facts, and then it will go on overload and blow up.” ~~~Erma Bombeck

“The life of inner peace, being harmonious and without stress, is the easiest type of existence.”
~~~Norman Vincent Peale