Turn off, tune out, and drop in

This past week, as I traveled across country and back for a project, I was walking through airports, stopping at gas stations, and watching TV in the hotel room and at restaurants, an image was impressed upon me. Really, the proper word is 'forced' upon me. I usually avoid watching mainstream TV and avoid looking at mainstream magazines and newspapers. But with the boredom that comes with travel, I'm inevitably taken with picking up a magazine or newspaper, or turning on a TV. And each time thereafter, I remember why I tend toward avoiding current mainstream venues for information. Mainly because it isn't information, rather it's a force-fed message from organizations focused more on influencing political opinions or simply entertainment. No news. Just agendas and entertainment.

This time around, the image I was being force fed was that of Barrack Obama as a statesman and President. I caught myself thinking that he was already elected President of the US. Between the frequent shots of him shaking hands with dignitaries around the world, to dramatic close-ups of him praying on the cover of Newsweek, to everything else, it seems mainstream media this past week was manufacturing the image of Barrack Obama as our elected President. Maybe this image is what is conveyed on a daily basis when I'm not traveling, but I only was slapped with the image this week.

It's telling of a contrast. I get my daily dose of information when not traveling from words. Usually from sources like the BBC and a more broad source of information from the Internet. I purposely avoid most mainstream US media sources. I occasionally peruse mainstream media sites, but I give them no more or less time than other sources. However, during travels, I'm usually only blasted with their info hoses, and usually in visual form. Whether I want to hear it or not. It's kind of like cigarette smoke. I'm in a restaurant, bar, or hotel...a TV is on somewhere, and its blowing smoke my way. Or I'm in an airport or gas station, and the news stands have their dramatic close ups of their pre-elected official.

While I'm hit with the temporary suspension of reality and think that Barrack Obama was already elected President of the US. Reality sets in fairly quick and I realize the source. It reminds me, counter to Timothy Leary's suggestion, to "turn off, tune out, and drop in". That is, turn off mainstream TV, tune out of mainstream news and magazines, and drop in to reality. Seek real information from a broader source, less affected by political agendas and the need to entertain. Unless of course you simply want to march to the tune of the political drumbeats because it's in step with your own beliefs. It's comforting and entertaining, but not even remotely informative.