This week, I declared another media fast for myself. I mentioned last time that a media fast was part of what I did to get The Purple Haze written. Now I’m working on The Light Bearer (book three in the Western Lands and All That Really Matters series) and I felt the need to do it again.
For me, a media fast is mainly no podcasts, no audio books, minimal Facebook and Twitter, turning the TV off, and deleting newsletters unread. Instead of letting myself be distracted by yammering, allowing my political outrage to be fuelled, or letting someone else’s mind burps rattle around in my head, I give myself over to letting my story percolate in there instead. Amazing what your brain will do if it isn’t being distracted by three guys speculating on what Apple will release next (and believe me, I *love* that kind of stuff) or analysing the latest political malfeasance.
My wife, Billie Dean, created an online course called 30 Days of Spiritual Wildness. On Day One, she encourages everyone to:
“Make a promise not to watch the news. Turn it off. Slide by the bad news on Facebook. Don’t listen to the radio news. Don’t read the papers. Try having a month-long news fast. The news is just depressing, and a lot of it is planned to keep us depressed, distracted and fearful. The old world is in chaos. We don’t want to put our emotion or energy there. We want to get busy creating the new world, where the bad news no longer exists.”
That resonates with me every time I read it. Whether one wants to get busy creating the new world or get busy creating new art, eliminating the yada-yada of the world is a great way to shift your focus.
And people find it incredibly transformational. Surprisingly so. Such a simple exercise. Such a difference it can make.
I don’t know how long this particular media fast of mine will last, nor how strict I’ll be with it, but I’ll let it go on a while, anyway. Perhaps you’d like to join me. If you do, let me know what you think.