The Drug of Politics and A Magic Trick to Cultivate Compassion…
Dregs of Wisdom #2: The Drug of Politics and A Magic Trick to Cultivate Compassion…
Politics is such a seductive drug…
Over-consumption leads to hatred, fear, panic, and disempowerment.
It’s intoxicating to watch the battle between the two teams… The CONSTANT “breaking news.”
It’s like watching sports or a movie.
Ridiculing and demonizing the other side. Wanting desperately for your side to win.
Keeping up with the latest update on the Trump indictments or Hunter Biden shenanigans or the War(s).
All the while your internal fear and anxiety ratchets up…the sense that the world is moving towards a breaking point. This fear leads people to dig their heels into the safety of their “team,” unwilling to listen to arguments from other sides.
You may notice that you're feeling less resilient, quicker to anger and anxiety, even about things unrelated to politics.
It’s so intoxicating that many people leave their tv’s on with cable news in the background all day, or constantly check their X/Twitter feeds for the latest updates like an addict trying to stay high.
I’m no stranger to the trap of cable news and social media addiction, and find that it makes me less productive, less happy, and more anxious…
BUT TODAY I FOUND A SECRET TECHNIQUE to counter the negative effects of cable news!
Here’s what happened…
On a visit to my parents house this week I sat down at their kitchen table to write. The kitchen tv was of course turned on to the news. So I popped in my earbuds with noise cancellation technology and started blasting a mix from Spotify so I wouldn’t hear the voices of the news anchors. This is nothing new or special…
But then something unexpected happened.…
The mix that was playing was a sort of eclectic somber singer songwriter mix… (think Ray Lamontagne, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Bon Iver, Sara Bareilles, Iron and Wine…) here’s the mix if you want to know what I listen to while writing.
As I occasionally looked up from my laptop at the people on the news while listening to this somber beautiful acoustic vibe I noticed a picture of Mark Meadows and his smile reminded me of one of my nephews.
I then started imagining Mark Meadows as a little boy… still innocent and wide eyed.
I felt an odd sense of sonder.
Then every news anchor and every guest I saw I would just see them moving their lips and imagine them as children… when they didn’t give a damn about any of this stuff.
Undistracted by what they were saying I could see in their body language and facial features the deep longing they all had for something that seemed out of their reach. Because I didn’t know what “team” they were playing for I just saw them as individuals, as humans.
It was sad and beautiful. Everyone looked so beautiful to me. Even the most triggering people I could see as innocent children trying to find their way in the world.
I was struck with a deep sense of compassion for all beings. Everyone started as an innocent child and is just doing their best. Including myself. What a wild world.
This insight doesn’t necessarily change my political views, but it does open my mind to the possibility that my own views are subject to the biases of my up-bringing, perceived “team” and belief in my own “rightness.” And that any view I hold with emotion is likely a view with an unconscious backdrop of fear and anxiety. This insight allows me to stay open to new or different ideas as I see others not as political friends or enemies but as human beings trying to figure out life.
I believe that when people are feeling angry, scared, and disempowered they just want to follow the “leaders” of their “team” blindly. But when people maintain a sense of compassion and personal autonomy they can listen to other ideas with open minds, see the humanity in others and make decisions from a place of wisdom. They can call for sanity when the leaders of their own teams go too far.
So, regardless of your political leaning, if you find that you’ve been feeling particularly charged by politics lately or have found yourself seeing others as enemies, I highly recommend trying the following:
Put on some headphones.
If you don’t have Spotify or iTunes try searching; “Somber Acoustic Music Mix” on youtube.
Do some people watching… you can turn on cable news like I did or go to a busy cafe.
Everyone in the world seeks deeply to be understood. This watching people with compassion is surely the Lord’s work.
Notice how YOU feel when you practice compassionate witnessing of others humanity.
Good Luck.