I regret wasting decades of my life while consuming media: mainstream media like the NYTimes, Axios, Politico, CNN, et al., and social media like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Threads. For some people, these may be good things, but for me, they became an increasingly unhealthy addiction. I firmly believe a porn addiction is far more healthy than a mainstream/social media addiction. At least, for me.
When Musk bought Twitter, leaving it and my 40,000 followers was easy. That decision initiated a gradual departure from Google, Instagram, Threads, and Facebook. However, I could not leave the mainstream media until the November 5th election. It was then that I coldly realized that my moderate and left-leaning media outlets helped T***p win.
The Biden years were not a great time for the mainstream media because there was not a lot to be in opposition to. The media fares best (i.e., makes money) in periods when there is an obvious enemy. This cold fact—that the media owners decided money was more important than democracy destroyed my remaining trust. And I quit cold turkey. I have been sober now for 64 days, 14 hours, and 40 minutes.
Sure, I miss our nights with Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyer, and John Oliver. I even miss Colbert a tiny bit. I did not fully appreciate the enormous amount of time I was squandering. There was this huge hole to fill.
The Results
I read 63 books last year; 24 of those were after the election, the day I quit mainstream media.
I have painted 14 watercolors and created three mixed-media artworks.
I am drinking alcohol far less.
I am exercising more.
I am getting out in public more and interacting with real people.
For the first time in over a decade, we went to actual cinemas and watched The Room Next Door and Wicked alongside real people.
I am sleeping better.
I am meditating more.
My blood pressure is way down.
I have visited nine museums.
I could go on.
I just feel so much more healthy. Of course, there is always the danger of falling off the wagon. When Bluesky came out, I leaped to be an early adopter, only to realize it is just more of the same shit. And even more, because now everything seems to be created by AI. It is almost impossible to find real people or real art.
Many years ago, I read a fascinating book, The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership, by University of Southern California President Steven Sample. He gave up mainstream media decades ago and says that he gets a far less biased take on the news from his trusted friends. The stories go through filters, and when they finally leak down to him, he feels he is getting a better look at the truth.
However, it can be weird. Gina told me about the Los Angeles fires last night as if I knew about them. I had no idea. It is easy to forget, even for her, that I no longer read mainstream or social media. She is still getting her head around that when she sends me a Facebook or Instagram link, I cannot access it because I do not have an account.
And it is like an abrupt disconnect from my friends who live on social media. I have not heard one word from many of them (some of my closest friends) because their chosen means of communication are social networks. I´m not sure they know how to text or email any longer, and for sure, they do not know how to use a cell phone to make a call.
I am not one to spend a lot of time hashing over regrets; there comes a time when one needs to move on with life. But writing this, I cannot help but think about what I could have accomplished if I had those thousands of hours I wasted on media. How many hundreds of books, paintings, creations, and miles of exercise? Better mental health, better relationships, better sex, better meditation? Oh my.
But enough of that. It is time to go on. Life in Spain as a retired person offers myriad rich and diverse experiences that can be savored if we only take the time. And now, I have a lot more of it.
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