I finally decided to relinquish the stack of unread newspapers to the rag and bone man (karang guni) for recycling. The stack came to be the last time I went overseas. It felt a somewhat uneasy letting go of the stack. There was a subtle fear of possibly missing out some crucial information in the news. I wouldn’t know what I missed. A phantom fear that might or might not be valid. The pile had been there for some time and to my shock, I found it difficult to fork out time to even just browse through them. I had to choose – between living in the past, as symbolised by the backdated papers and living in the present, as symbolised by what kept me too busy in the now.
How did I managed to let the stack go then? By reflecting on how I’m likely to miss out some important information too, even if I read the papers diligently. In fact, most of the life-changing stuff I come across these days are online. But I wouldn’t know what I missed to search for online. Well… what can I say? I’m not a news junkie, and must refrain from becoming one – because it obstructs me from receiving the latest news – reading my mind as it is now – mindfully. Am going overseas again. I emailed the paper vendor for suspension of delivery. Usually I insist on saving the back issues and they are agreeable to it. But this time, I let it slide. As the vendor suggested, ‘Your subscription will also be extended accordingly to make up for the issues you will not receive.’ Okay.
“Destroyed by (Straits Times)
I hate to bite the hand that
Feeds me so much information
The Pressure’s on the (paper) to
Sell you things that you don’t need
It’s too much information for me” – duran duran
*brackets my own words
I don’t think you miss a lot in local newspaper :whistle:
I have similar problem 😛
I haven’t let it go, the pile half a year ago….
Where are you visiting this round, another Pilgrimage trip?
For those who havn’t heard it, here is the video link for ‘Too Much Information’:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tbVPpeUUW8
😉
Yes, the world of news is much wider out there… which makes it even more intimidating! Truly too much information!
YY, maybe you can give yourself one full day to browse through the papers. Whether you finish or not, make a resolution to give the rest up! I realised too that most old news become largely unimportant – which actually makes them easier to ‘read’!