I started this column way back in what feels like ancient, pre-COVID-19 times. Back then, masks were what people wore on Mardi Gras, and Corona was a beer best enjoyed with a lime. It all seemed so simple.
But it really wasn’t. We had democratic debates with ridiculous rules, an Iowa Caucus with no winner, a slew of ludicrous bills in the Ohio House and Senate, streaming services polluting our waters and much, much more. Still, it pales in comparison to a pandemic, civil unrest and large-scale war in Europe.
A lot has changed since I penned my first column, but that is to be expected. Politics is the nature of moving from one crisis to another.
Since 2020, though, news has been even more pervasive in my life, as I’m sure it has been for you, dear reader. I don’t mean watching the 6 o’clock news or checking Twitter now and then. I mean doom-scrolling for hours on social media some days and always feeling like you’re plugged into the rest of the world while simultaneously feeling alone in it.
There is a constant, dull hum that exists in day-to-day life. So many things are happening all around us, and it’s expected that we should be aware of all of it.
Not only are we expected to be aware of the news, but we’re expected to have an opinion on it, too. Petty pundits exist in every corner of society, amplified by a soulless social media algorithm that works desperately to keep us engaged without a care for how the content makes the user feel.
Our capacity to care only extends so far. So many young people are maxed out and feel totally hopeless, and at times, it really seems like everything is crumbling.
The human mind tends to deal in absolutes and is pretty bad at analyzing consequences, risks, and probabilities. It’s easy to think everything is either really bad or really good or that an issue is way simpler than it seems, easily distilled to black and white, good and bad, yes and no.
Life is complex. Things don’t fit together like puzzle pieces in a neat and organized picture. Oftentimes, that makes us upset and frustrated. We become disillusioned, so we drop out, resigned to defeat before the battle of making change has even happened.
My message is simple to write and much harder to practice: stop caring about stupid stuff.
There are extremely important issues playing out every day in front of us and, oftentimes, (most of the time) online discourse from terminally online people trivializes or glosses over them.
Focus on what you have the capacity to focus on. Pick an issue or a topic that interests you the most; just center in on something. You’ll go a lot further toward improving our world’s environment by planting trees than you will fighting in your Twitter replies with an account that has three followers and no profile picture.
In short: tune in, turn off, drop out. Do what’s best for your mental health. Limit screen time. Focus on what really matters in life — the stuff you can control.
Matthew Geiger is a senior studying economics and political science at Ohio University and is also digital managing editor of The Post. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk to Matthew? Tweet him @Mattg444.
