It’s been a long time since I turned on a television. Here are today’s reflections on the so called NEWS> I’m talking that CNN, FOX news, MSNBC bull script:

you don’t watch the news. the news watches YOU.  it entices your fear and your frenzy and pushes you towards subtle cravings and perspectives by painting a worldview of RICH and POOR, of beauty and lust, of THEM and US. Intense images of war and money are blasted with tickers ticking stock details and meaningless tidbits of fear below the screen. By the time a commercial is cut you’ll be shown bright images of products that will relieve the dark but subtle traumas these stories slip into our subconscious. Every seed of fear will have some product that will guarantee your salvation. News anchor talks about financial insecurity? Commercial break shows you the investors you can trust. News anchor talks about food scarcity? Commercial break shows you who is leading the way in genetic seed innovation. News anchor talks about aging skin and wrinkles? Commercial break shows you what beauty products will keep you looking young forever.

Meanwhile, back to the program, the suits in aggressive undertones paint a strange world of separation. The poor are pitied, the middle class are talked down to, and those who manipulate this country and it’s resources are heralded as saviors and titans. In a room full of news anchors and analysts, who is telling a single story with any compassion or context? The stories are already written, the context has already been ingrained since day one: everyone is to blame and everyone is separate and the outcome in the real world is a lot misguided perspectives that lead to a lot of hurtful, mindless chatter that people use in their communities and workplaces that by no means reflect the actual current affairs in this beautiful, yet afflicted, world; nor do they reflect the incessant goodness I believe is in each and every one of us.

I see some people fill their lives with these stories and look like they’re actually happy. Looking beyond the crest-white smiles that fade too quickly or listening to the sound of laughter that feels strange and squished out- I wonder if there isn’t something else inside the hearts of those who broadcast and consume these franchises of fear. Isn’t their something so deep and connected still in those who love fishing or going to the beach, but can’t even be bothered to think about clean water and gardens? Those who will drill for miles and bulldoze forests by acred billions yet deny any connection to the land outside of oil and profit?

Some write off those who speak of mother earth and her precious gifts as “hippies” or “new age.” But ask yourself. Is there a single thing you have that didn’t come from mother earth or one of her children? Would all of your possessions and stadiums and devices really be that interesting if you didn’t have water to drink or food to eat?

Yet still there are many who listen to the sweet song that exists outside that awful, destructive noise. Change is not as hard as we’ve been led to believe. Supporting local business. Supporting community gardening. Buying organic products. Even recycling, conscious use of water, smiling at your neighbor, whatever it is- No act of love will go unnoticed.

As I travel the world and see such poverty mixed with such promise I start to wonder if there isn’t some sort of awakening here. A deeper resonance stirring the hearts of our generations to something that operates HIGHER than all this 1st World Consumer shameful nonsense. People are waking up to the idea that loving kindness might be the best gift treat the earth and ourselves, and others are doing everything in their power to make this world a better place. Others, however, are still walking in that fog of fear, caught in a mentality of separation and lack. It is to those I send my prayer:

sports, gossip, & celebrities. if that’s all you talk about and that actually makes you happy- go live that dream.

but if you find yourself feeling restless, inadequate, empty and stifled and bored- just know that there’s a whole beautiful world out there that needs your help. There are entire generations that need you. And for everyone one person that leaves you feeling sad or hurt, there are 100 more willing to accept you, embrace you, and love you for you.

the media lies. nature tells the truth.

what’s your heart saying to you?