We are consuming all. day. long.
I’m not just talking about food and drink.
We consume a smorgasbord of media, including social media, music, TV, movies/shows, radio, advertisements, news, podcasts, and books, etc.
I think that most of the time we don’t even realize the amount or quality of the pervasive media constantly surrounding us nor its effect that it might be having on our energy—our mood, vitality, and outlook on life.
What if we could compare the quality of media we are consuming to food choices?
Here’s my Media/Food list:
News: Coffee
A shot will wake you up and might start your day
You could probably live without it
Too much will make your hands shake and keep you up at night
Opinion Shows Thinly Masquerading As “News”: Red Bull
Nobody needs it
Shoots you full of adrenaline
Causes you to be aggressive and do stupid things
Makes you feel uncomfortable to be around people and makes people feel uncomfortable to be around you
illicits suspicion
Sets you up for a massive crash
Raunchy Shows: Denny’s or Village Inn
Appeals to our most base desires
Serves little or nothing healthy or substantive
Friends don’t let friends consume it on a regular basis
Sound good only when you’ve been up all night
NPR: Wine
Can appear to be erudite
Bitter/sweet
May contain additives
Can be habit-forming
Too much will give you a headache
Nature Documentaries: Salad
Green
Nourishing
Makes you appreciate the incredible diversity and flavors of this amazing earth
Will inspire you make you care about keeping the earth clean and pure
Will inspire you to grow a garden
Rumi: Dates
Naturally sweetens everything
A wonder of this world
Mary Oliver: Olive Tapenade
Flavorful
Goes well with almost everything
A great way to start a conversation
Insatiable
Wendell Berry: Berries (obvs)
Organic
Earthy
Sweet
Delicious
Makes you appreciate your connection to the earth
Airplane Movies: Airplane food
Intolerable but it’s incredible how low your standards get when you’re bored
Instagram: Sour Patch Kids
Slightly addictive
A guilty pleasure
Can give you a canker
Makes you pucker
Likely to cause ducklips
Facebook: Dorritos
Processed
Engineered
Will likely kill you with overexposure
Served in social settings
Death Metal: Jagermeister
A shot once in a while will rock your soul
Excessive exposure could prove darken your soul
Jazz: Oysters
Classic
Refined
Might be an acquired taste
Netflix: Pizza
Mostly junk
Often cheezy
Can leave you feeling heavy and bloated
Best when experienced outdoors on a summer evening
Books: Vitamins
Improves your brain function
Must be disciplined to get regular doses
Makes you smarter
What are your your media to food comparisons? I’d love to hear your ideas.
Are you consuming junk all day long and wondering why you’re feeling terrible so often?
I invite you to be conscious of the media you’re exposed to and to explore giving yourself a healthy “diet” media diet.
Here’s a list of just a few of my favorite media picks that I feel are uplifting, inspirational, and will help you tend to your subtle body. I’d love to hear yours.
Books:
The Book of Delights by Ross Gay
Life Visioning (on Audible) by Dr. Michael Beckwith (LOVE this book!!! Just finished it for the 4th time.)
When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chödrön
A Moveable Feast by Earnest Hemingway
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Loving What Is by Byron Katie
The Hummingbird’s Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea
The Need To Be Whole by Wendell Berry
All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
US by Terry Real
No Death No Fear Thich Nhat Hanh
5-Minute Manifesting Journal by yours truly (just sayin’)
Practical Yoga Nidra by yours truly (also, just sayin’)
The Creative Act by Rick Rubin
Badass Habits by Jen Sincero
The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks
Poetry
Anything by Mary Oliver, especially Why I Wake Early
The Gift: Poems by Haffiz The Great Sufi Master by Daniel Ladinsky
Love Poems from God by Daniel Ladinsky
Sabbaths by Wendell Berry
Prayers Not Meant for Heaven by SLC’s own Nan Seymour
Podcasts
On Being
The Rich Roll podcast
The Moth
The Happiness Lab
Be Antiracist
Streaming
A Trip to Infinity
Beethoven’s Night Symphony for the World
How to Change Your Mind
Our Universe
Cosmos: A Spacetime Oddyssey
Music (Everyone’s tastes are different but here’s what I’ve been enjoying)
Ordet by Bremer/McCoy
Over Tage by Svaneborg Kardyb
In Movement by Jack DeJohnette
Kind of Blue by Miles Davis
That’s Where It’s At by Stanley Turrentine
Motherland by Khatia Buniatishvili
Rachmaninov: Vespers
Three Little Words by Dominique Fils-Aimé
The Love Window by Shantala
Media Fast
I’ve got an idea: What would it be like to create your own media fast?
Perhaps you choose to have a week without Netflix, or at least a week without the crap you know you could live without. Maybe you do a week without social media. I know many people who choose to have a day where they unplug from media completely or just read books.
Either way, I invite you to look at the media you’re consuming to better understand how it’s shaping you into the person you are and practice responsible media consumption.