I Quit Watching the News

For over fifteen years, my morning routine has been: wake up, shower, feed the animals, make coffee, plunk down on the sofa, consume news while drinking said coffee and playing matching games (Gardenscapes level 15,348 and Homescapes level 20,101... resist the urge to play the new levels released today...). CBS Mornings has been my go-to, even when I moved to Shanghai, though I have to watch clips of yesterday's morning news on AppleTV. I enjoyed the alone time in the dark with my coffee, tablet, and Gayle King, though Tony Dokoupil was always a welcome feast for the eyes. But in the last few weeks, something has soured.

I don't think the news or the show has changed; it's always the circus of politicians blaming each other with stronger and more ridiculous fervor, the weather disasters and climate erosion, and general stories of humanity's cruelty toward each other in wars, kidnappings, violence, and every other unspeakable horror. Sure, now and then a celebrity athlete pops on to talk about their new children's book, a daytime soap star sells their new line of facial care, or some other celeb pushes their stuff. And yes, slipped in there once a week is a legitimately heartwarming piece by Dave Begnaud and/or Phil Hartman with or without his kids.

But those last pieces have just failed to be enough.

I can't do it anymore. By the end of my morning news routine, I've noticed that I'm either left feeling angry or hopeless. It affects my entire day. How I start my day matters. The wild thing was, I've considered this routine change for a while, and every time I managed to convince myself that I've invested so much time with Gayle, Nate, and Tony and Vlad that I can't possibly let it go. Or that I'm being unreasonable or soft, and for the good of my knowledge of the world around me, I need to suck it up and power through it. To hell with my feelings.

No. I'm sorry, Gayle. You're my girl, but I can't keep doing this to myself. It's not you, well... sorta. I'll miss you. Maybe someday my perspective will shift, and I'll return, but it won't happen any time soon. For now, I'll get my news by reading articles. For some reason, reading them doesn't affect me in the same way. Maybe because I can't hear the politicians being nasty or making wildly verbose claims. But whatever the reason, it works for me.

And now? Now I spend my mornings working on my writing in one way or another. I write, I tend to socials, I work with my phenomenal helper, Danielle, from authorsassistant.com (who has been telling me forever to get my ass in gear and work on my socials), or I do what I'm doing right now and blog. It's been life- and mood-changing.

But don't worry, Jane Pauley, you and I still have a date every Sunday morning, girl.