January 6th, 2021

‘This is definitely the first time we’ve seen something like this in our lifetime.’ I’ve said this phrase at least a dozen times in the past 11 months. At first in response to a pandemic that was supposedly coming our way and just days or weeks away from being in our grocery stores and at our workout classes. To very quickly being forced to stay at home with orders from the federal and local governments. Then it was all of the natural disasters that were more frequent and larger scale. The wildfires in California and along the west coast, the tornado that ripped through Nashville in early March. The brutal death of George Floyd and the BLM protests in every state across the nation, as well as in over 60 countries, on all seven continents. World wide in places like Paris, Kenya and Japan, people were outraged at the wide spread documentation of police brutality in America. We’ve been through ALOT in the year 2020. 

I personally have been more glued to the news and media outlets than ever before. It’s scary and anxiety inducing to see what’s happening in the world while you’re sitting on your couch, unsure of the future. But it’s also normal! Yes, we need to be mindful of how much and what we’re consuming, but feeling sad, angry, frustrated and scared is ok. Wanting to be informed and knowledgeable about what’s going on, even if you are powerless to change it, isn’t a bad thing. 

I found it interesting that about half* (*my general guesstimation - no real science behind this number) of the people who would normally be posting new year's resolutions or plans and goals for 2021, were instead posting about what they survived in 2020, and that they were just happy to move into 2021 with no expectations. I saw a meme floating around that I really liked. It said something to the extent of, ‘we’re going to creep into 2021 nice and slow. Don’t make any noise or sudden movements’. I don’t know about you, but as I took a break from work over the holidays I felt like I finally have found a good rhythm with my work from home, and I can successfully find and maintain balance while I wait for things to return, be it slowly, back to normal. Then, January 6th 2021 happened.

I knew they were convening in the house and senate that day to certify the electoral votes for Joe Biden’s presidency, but truth be told I had not heard alot about the plans from far right extremists to storm and occupy the capital. That information was out there, and honesty, in your face - especially on social media sites. Regardless, I did not have my eye on the news that day thinking anything noteworthy would happen. I logged into Instagram while I was eating my lunch and immediately started seeing images of people executing an insurrection. I quickly turned on the news, which honestly would not have been my immediate reaction after seeing something alarming on Instagram, until this past October and November when I relied on the news daily for almost two weeks as the election unfolded. 

The coverage was alarming and constantly flowing. Showing live speeches, first Joe Biden calling Trump to come on national television and ask the violence to stop. Then Trump released a video with alarming rhetoric, both asking the insurrectionists to go home, while also praising their efforts and saying “we love you.” Then the stations would flash back to earlier in the day when Trump spoke at a rally telling the crowd he would lead them himself to the capitol. Other Trump allies such as Rudy Giuliani being just as insightful of violence in their words. His speech called the election results fraudulent and told the crowd “If we are wrong we will be made fools of, but if we’re right a lot of them will go to jail, so let's have trial by combat.” 

I knew within an hour that this was not only a day that would live in infamy for the rest of history, but also a day that would have immense impacts causing a ripple effect for weeks to come. I had to start trying to set boundaries about how much I would consume. But it’s hard! 

I immediately started listening to the handful of NPR podcasts that are updated daily and every few hours with new snippets and sound files or interviews from various location reporters and key people to the events. By the time I finished my work meetings for the day I was able to turn on the news again and follow the speeches in the senate about what had happened earlier in the day. I stayed up late, and had my coffee with the news the next morning. When I played fetch with Oscar, I listened to NPR’s The Daily.

Working was nearly impossible on Thursday, but everyone seemed to have a handful of meetings that couldn’t be moved, so we went to those, and stayed busy on Slack sending each other updates and bits of information as we swapped off being tied up in meetings for the hour, or not. By Friday I decided that I couldn’t consume news or be on instagram every free moment I had. During my holiday break I decided to start Game of Thrones from the beginning since I had never watched the final season, so I decided to get back to that, and read my chapter of Barack’s memoir a day so I can continue to push through and finish it this month. 

I still listen to NPR News Now - the 5 minute updates that get published every hour, and NPR Up First which is a daily podcast dropped in the morning with 15-20 minutes of news from the previous day. I’ve been checking 2-3 news outlets at the start and end of the day, but I’m trying to fill my time with other things and consciously update and get the latest news in controlled amounts. 

In some ways, the boundaries I’ve set are helping. I don’t feel my thoughts spiraling out of control like they were last week, but I still have a sense of unrest. A feeling in my stomach that this isn’t over, or going away anytime soon. That the news is going to be filled with information I want to be aware of. But what I’m realizing is that if I allow myself to get planned updates throughout the day - listening to a podcast during fetch in the morning, watching a news update during lunch - I feel informed, but I can better focus on work during the working hours. 

I’m not perfect, and as soon as something big happens again I’m sure I’ll be sucked right back into the black hole of infinite content, but for now I’m setting boundaries, and writing this blog post as a gentle reminder to do the same for yourself. Whether it’s deciding not to call or text a certain family member or friend to avoid the bummer interaction, or taking an extra 30 minutes to watch a funny show or safely give in to your sweet tooth, take the time for yourself so you can have the energy to get through the day. I strongly believe that it’s important to stay informed and aware of what’s going on, while also having healthy boundaries around news consumption and social media comment scouring.