One lazy evening this summer, feeling headachy due to a storm brewing, I came across the very first season of the television series ER on one of the platforms we use. No prizes for guessing what happened next. Yes, for the following two hours it was just me, some major medical trauma and, of course, George Clooney.
I first saw the show at 15 years old, and my mother and I were instant fans. We both had an interest in medical matters, both loved the fast and furious dialogue and camerawork, and both discovered a weakness for tall, dark, handsome paediatricians. Three decades later, it was fun to re-watch that first episode, noting that it hadn’t really dated (apart from a distinct lack of mobile phones among people in the waiting room). However by the time the second episode automatically kicked in, I was feeling a little queasy, downright anxious actually. Watching people going through the worst days of their lives for over two hours took its toll, pointing my attention towards all that’s wrong in the world and all that can go wrong, and giving my already often overactive brain rather too much food for thought. When my husband looked up from his book and suggested we have supper, it was actually a relief to turn it off.
You do the math
Thinking about my viewing over the following days, I was reminded of an ex-colleague who announced one Monday morning that she was giving up television. She was rather fond of police procedurals (specifically CSI) and, the previous Sunday, she calculated that in one particularly rainy week she had witnessed a total of 17 murders and seen 26 dead bodies. She came to the conclusion that this was perhaps not entirely healthy.
Oddly, this colleague was one of the few vegetarians I knew back then, and a devout buyer of organic produce. So careful about the foods she consumed, and so unthinking in her TV consumption. And I have at times been just as careless. For years I consumed way more than the recommended daily intake of Law and Order and Criminal Minds. Nowadays, I don’t smoke (never have), drink very little, and have given up red meat, but there I was feeding myself with pain, sickness, violence and suffering. Worse, since in this case it was on television, I was actually inviting it into my home. Not even the promise of gorgeous George could make that palatable.
Absorbing the death, doom and destruction
As a society, we are more aware than ever of the potentially harmful effects of the things we put into our bodies. But how often do we stop to consider what we feed our eyes, ears and minds? What messages are we consuming in the TV and films we watch, or in what we read? Possibly worse than any entertainment content, there’s the news – online and print newspapers, on the TV, or on the radio. When it comes to our children, many of us are ferociously vigilant about the images they are exposed to and the messages they receive when they are allowed screen time (I’m looking at you, Paw Patrol with, out of six heroic dogs, only one female and even then she’s in head-to-toe in pink). But our filters are somehow far more porous when it comes to our own exposure.
Children are, of course, more impressionable and vulnerable than adults, but that doesn’t mean we are totally impervious. Constantly viewing corpses, reading first-person narrative inside the mind of a serial killer, or simply staying informed of the latest spite- and hate-filled lies spread by politicians has an impact on us. In my case, ER made me anxious – reminding me of all the possible horrors that could befall me and my loved ones. For some people, over-exposure to suffering leads to compassion fatigue, for others, too much current affairs content makes them jaded and reluctant to trust.
Conscious consumption
To paraphrase the old adage, we are what we consume, whether we are talking about nutrition or entertainment. Just as our energy levels and immune system are affected by our diet, our emotions and thoughts are affected by what we watch and read. I’m not suggesting you stop taking an interest in what’s going on in the world or that you only watch films made by Hallmark from now on, but do take a moment next time you surf Netflix, or browse a bookshop, or even open your favourite news site. Think about how you feel, what you need, and the impact your consumption choice will have. Will it make your worldview brighter or darker? Will you feel buoyed and optimistic or sluggish and restless afterwards? Just as you consider the foods your body requires when meal planning or the next-day headache guaranteed by that third glass of wine, be mindful in your intellectual intake.
Conscious consumption doesn’t have to mean giving up guilty pleasures entirely or indeed, swearing off George Clooney and his blue scrubs forever. But it does mean being aware of what we are exposing ourselves to, becoming cognisant of the impact it may have on our thinking and moods, and staying empowered to make mindful choices.
Are you looking to become more mindful about how you live? Do you want to make more empowered, conscious choices? Would you like to feel like you run the show? Working with an empathetic coach with over a decade of experience supporting clients to live with purpose and on purpose can give you the boost you need to take control of your life and write your own story. Contact me to find out more about working together.
