15 Comments
User's avatar
Teri Gelini's avatar

Great breakdown Jack. I plan to review who I allow in a second time. It sort of like cleaning out the house of things you do not need anymore.

#HOLDFAST

Teri

Jack Hopkins's avatar

Teri...thank you. It really is like cleaning a house...and pushing out the things you no longer need. (With a daughter who just got married in June, and...a son...who graduates high school this year...we've been doing a bit of that VERY thing around here.)

Glad you like it, Teri.

#HOLDFAST

-Jack

Cherae Stone's avatar

And exactly what I’m actively doing at my home. Perfect analogy. Clearing out the distractions, stuff just taking up “space” and that we’ve gotten used to. It’s clutter.

It feels good, doesn’t it, Teri?

#HoldFast

Alexa Russell's avatar

Thank you Jack. Strong as a rock. You are appreciated. Steady as we go.

Jack Hopkins's avatar

Alexa...and YOU are appreciated as well.

-Jack

Jay's avatar

Ditto to Alexa's comment Jack. I have needed these types of tools to be effective. Thanks, Jay

Jack Hopkins's avatar

Jay...I'm SO glad you are finding this series helpful.

-Jack

Kristine Antonivich's avatar

Thanks Jack, it took me awhile to get there but, this past year I have tried to follow the bedrock you are laying out. The anger and outrage are still there but, now channeled into constructive ways. The screaming headlines are replaced with more more thought curating of sources. To your point it's not burying your head in the sand. It is picking the voices you trust, staying informed, and doing what you can. #holdfast

Maicab's avatar

Wow, thank you!! I really needed to hear this rn. I’ve tried to be selective but didn’t work out well as I didn’t think of the ‘piles’. Now, I’m setting limits again and will use this strategy!!! Thanks for all you do! I can only budget a few subscriptions and you’re one of them!!

Mary Lockhart's avatar

Great advice. Thanks

Dennis Rogers's avatar

Appreciate the Bedrock posts. Short, on point and useful. Thanks. I suspect I'm being more than a little overly dramatic when I express that I see farmers, tradesman and merchants having turned the regulars back positioning themselves along the Great Road to harass the regulars.

ADNK's avatar

Oddly enough, I seem to have already adopted this schedule. With breakfast and morning chores, I play around with a Sims game I've had for decades. When I pick up the email account, I thin it immediately. I know who I want to hear from. Late in the day... silly sitcoms and a gummie.

Gary Nelson's avatar

Right on Jack! It's the difference between having the system work for you, or being it's slave!

Margaret Power's avatar

I've pretty much done all this to preserve my sanity.

I don't watch or listen to news, because hearing the voices ratchets up my anxiety. I just read it in calmness a couple of times a day. I know there's fresh hell every day, but I don't need to be current on all the details.

I put my monthly political donations on autopilot. This does two things: ensure that my credit card remains engaged in the fight, even when I don't, and minimizes decisions. Is XX candidate important? Yes, but he or she is not my lane. I'm already giving what my budget permits where I've determined it has highest leverage.

My lane for volunteer work is Red Cross disaster support. You, my compadres, can do the phonebanking (that my monthly donation, above, financed). I'll be on standby for local wildfire support, or providing remote online support to disaster recovery in Hawaii or New York or Florida, or occasionally deployed in person for a couple of weeks. Climate change and reductions to FEMA are political fallout, and I'm on the team that picks up the pieces.

Steven Erick's avatar

Here's my action items from your article:

My news comes from my iMAC. This way I can filter what comes across.

Sources: Jack Hopkins, Chris Armitage, the Existentialist Republic, Rxan Smith Uncomfortable and Aaron Parnas

Filter: Acknowledge all comments I receive and support the independent journalists I depend on to the maximum I can. I tune out the TV unless there is one of the perspectives I value the most.