Hope in the Headlines

As I mentioned in a previous post, I can easily get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of bad news I can encounter in a day. It find it difficult to keep compassion alive as I read story after story about disaster, disease, deception, and destruction. It's almost as if the headlines are on one side of the scale and my ability to empathize―with the very people whose stories are told in those headlines!―is on the other.

From another post: "I often think that we are not hardwired to handle the incredible media onslaught of information about suffering in the world. Our natural impulse is to help those who hurt, even if we aren't all activism-oriented. It can be overwhelming to know so much about what's wrong in the world and feel so helpless to make it right. Sometimes we feel that we have to harden ourselves to protect our hearts."

It turns out that there's something to that idea after all. A New York Times article published earlier this year points to a study that affirms our capacity to feel is limited (and that we tend to respond to individuals rather than large groups of suffering people).

I took a break from the mainstream media for a while and now deliberately read sources of positive headlines along with the top stories. I think of it as balancing my media diet. I've included a few links to those sources here before, but you know... I really want to make it easy for all of you to get a more accurate picture of the world than CNN paints. A picture that includes compassion. Healing. Joy. Peacemaking. Generosity.

So I've started up another blog, hope in the headlines. There are six or seven pieces up already and I'll be updating it regularly with positive press that I glean from the internets. (The link is right over there, just under our cute little family picture.) There's a headline, a summary, and then the link to the news source where you can read the rest of the story.

It has done my heart so much good to recognize―consistently―what's right with the world that I really want to share this gift with all of you. Be encouraged!