anyone else having a hard time/sexual allegations

[Williamsmith]

For me it means ....Get outside. Get away from the technological overload. A simple walk in a forested area will reduce the impact of the instant news cycles albeit temporarily.

It has been reported that our attention span has decreased from 12 seconds to 8 seconds since the introduction of the smartphone. And it is reported that a goldfish has an attention span of 9 seconds. In addition, the use of an iPad or smartphone simultaneously while watching television.....dual screening... contributes to attention deficits for the brain. All of which provides a place for the afflictions of pshychological imbalance to root themselves.

Our 24/7 hookup with technology conditions our brain to wait for input rather than create healthy supportive ideas. The input that is mostly available in our environment is bad news, fearmongering, judging and threatening language.

We could probably benefit from the old sixties meme....”Turn on, tune in, drop out.” Turn your thoughts inward, interact with the world “harmoniously” , detach yourself from involuntary influences.

The biggest barrier for me is other people’s shaming me into meeting their expectations. It drags me back into the technological black hole.

[pinkytoe]

I am definitely an information addict but consider most "news" these days as more like propaganda or even "entertainment." Promoting fear is definitely part of the news angle. Seeing "who blew up who" makes us feel safe perhaps since it is usually far removed. I will mention that CBS always closes their evening news with a positive story which I really appreciate.

[nswef]

williamsmith, I agree that going outdoors for a walk does wonders. I control what news I see, mainly by not watching on tv, only reading the newspaper and then skipping whatever I KNOW will mess me up. I have my computer (no phone on unless I am away from the house and expecting to need to call..) set so that NO NEWS feeds come up except Facebook where I can't seem to avoid them, but I'm good at NOT clicking! I know it helps. We also have our house phone on the answering machine always. I f I could get my husband to not watch the 7:00 CBS news I'd be happier, but he only watches that now and one local for the weather.

[Williamsmith]

williamsmith, I agree that going outdoors for a walk does wonders. I control what news I see, mainly by not watching on tv, only reading the newspaper and then skipping whatever I KNOW will mess me up. I have my computer (no phone on unless I am away from the house and expecting to need to call..) set so that NO NEWS feeds come up except Facebook where I can't seem to avoid them, but I'm good at NOT clicking! I know it helps. We also have our house phone on the answering machine always. I f I could get my husband to not watch the 7:00 CBS news I'd be happier, but he only watches that now and one local for the weather.

Im in a similar situation as probably millions are. My wife and I don’t see eye to eye on methods to eliminate the dominance of technology. We have four TVs. One in each of two bedrooms, one in a sunroom and one in the living room. Keep in mind this is a condo with total square footage of 1700 including a two car garage. We need four TVs like ....well we don’t. But getting rid of one is a non starter. She’s got a smartphone...I have a flip phone which I leave in the drawer all the time...which annoys her. Somehow we keep harmony with each other because there are enough things we agree on to override our differences. I do believe the constant instant news is the primary problem with mental imbalance. Our brain isn’t wired to accept all of that at one time.

[Teacher Terry]

WS: 4 Tv's for 2 people is a lot. WE have one in the living room and one in our bedroom. I see the need for 2 so if you want to watch different shows there are no issues.

[ApatheticNoMore]

I am working with it in my own way, but wondering if other people are dealing with memories or reactions to this.

No. But it's not appropriate to have sexual harassment in the workplace of course (and some things of course are not acceptable anywhere). Of course every kind of unmentionable variety of hell goes on in the workplace because power corrupts, but there are very strict laws on sexual harassment now, and it's a good thing.

Honestly I think I must have always given very strong stay away vibes because noone has done anything inappropriate to me or even ever said anything inappropriate to me (cept maybe that guy that hugged me too tight in high school, and well slightly abusive date situations - not date rape - nothing that extreme) and I haven't gotten a catcall since high school. I think what I kind of am sometimes is a target for bullying of sorts though.

[catherine]

When it comes to TVs we've historically been pretty conservative. We were the last people probably in our town that got a color TV. We only got one because my MIL bought us one for Christmas. This is not 1964 I'm talking about--it was probably about 1983. And of course, we only had one TV. We were also the last people around to get cable. I had 4 kids and I didn't like the content of cable TV, and as far as I was concerned, 3 broadcast channels and 2 local channels was fine.

We carried on with one TV for a very long time, and at some point we put 2nd 13" TV in our bedroom. However, I got mad when DH would come in after I'd gone to bed and turn it on, so I demanded we remove it. Back to the one TV.

A couple of years ago, during Christmas season, I decided that it would be a good idea to have a second TV in our spare room in case the kids came down and wanted to watch something. And, as Teacher Terry said, I thought maybe if I wanted to watch my own show instead of Deadliest Catch or Gold Rush, I could. But I don't think I've ever used that TV. I like to unwind with TV, but I'm not that fussy about shows, except for my favorite reality shows like DWTS, American Idol and Project Runway.

[JaneV2.0]

Project Runway was a treat for me this season; I was surprised and pleased by the winner.

[catherine]

Project Runway was a treat for me this season; I was surprised and pleased by the winner.

Same here!

[Gardnr]

1 TV in the house. DH has 1 in his woodshop because he can spend MANY hours in there. I don't have/do not want a TV in my quilt studio. Music and fabric. That's it!