no news is good news

the other day, i wrote about eliminating visual noise in your home and it got me thinking about another form of noise...i don't know about everyone else, but somewhere along the line, i became tethered to the idea that i had to watch a news show every morning to start to my day. i have been doing this for years, and have definitely appreciated my share of grilling tips and human interest stories. but recently, it has started to put me in a bad mood, and a bad mood before i walk out my front door is not okay.

one reason is that so much of the horrible, grotesque "news" being reported is not news at all - if there is a serial killer on the loose, that's fine to tell me about - i'll know to lock my door and look out for the deranged man in the sketch you're showing. but when something grisly or horrific happens....why do i need to know that? how does that make me more prepared to deal with the world? it reminds me that people do terrible things and freakish accidents befall even the most careful people, and i already know that. we all do. and i try to think less about that fact, not more.

particularly in this era of 24 hour news , if there are things i need to know, i will know them. i get breaking news updates to my blackberry and i check the headlines periodically throughout the day. but the mornings, i'm taking back. my mornings are a time to enter the world, and the more pleasantly i can do that, the better. what i have found works for me is a calming television show or music in the background as I go about the business of preparing for the day, making time for my essential balcony time as well, obvi.

i’m a firm believer in the fact that since very little of life is in our control, the things that are should be the best they can be. i even have a friend who goes about her morning routines by candlelight, rather than blast on the overhead lighting first thing in the morning. we all have different needs and preferences, and the morning is just as important a time as any to address those, if not the most important of all. i am reminded of the beautiful apache blessing i posted a few weeks ago in things remembered:

may the sun bring you new energy by day, may the moon softly restore you by night
may the rain wash away your worries, may the breeze blow new strength into your being
may you walk gently through the world and know its beauty all the days of your life

mornings are important - every day of our lives begins with one.