There’s a lot going on in the world today. And if we’re to trust the media, most of it is really negative, pessimistic stuff. I can’t wait for the election to be over, for the many armed conflicts to be settled, the rampant inflation to be reversed and for the climate crisis to just go away. None of this will happen, though. Why? We’ve been conditioned to embrace, almost relish in the dung of our times.

Here’s my reasoning:

1. Humans have engaged in cruelty and conflict since we first began walking on two legs, long ago.

2. History constantly repeats itself – whether in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, or Myanmar.

3. We do not learn from our violent past, as if tragedy, mass death, and destruction weren’t the inevitable outcomes. It’s always going to be the same more or less calamitous ending.

4. The media’s “product” is cruelty and conflict, profiting by pushing old “news” and compelling us to follow and engage with it.

5. It’s better to disconnect from the news, especially when it’s just “reruns” without clear right or wrong – and when getting emotionally invested won’t make us feel any better.

I’m not saying that we should all “ostracize” and ignore all the people in pain. But in my mind, there is no question that most of the suffering on our planet is unnecessary and that there are solid solutions for how to end 99% of it. But since the folks in power refuse to do so, I just think life is way too short for me to spend so much of it absorbing the sad and tragic stuff.

So, soon, I’m going to turn off the media “hose” and take more of a bird’s eye view of life to focus on improving my health, physically, mentally, spiritually, and creatively. And you know what? I find great solace in knowing that while we as a species might not be around for much longer, Earth and most of its non-human creatures will abide.

Met the above little fella on July 20, 2012, when it posed ever so patiently right outside my studio on Salongsgatan here in Malmö.