The news these past few weeks has been filled with some truly awful stories, from the school shooting in B.C. to the murder of two children in a community just north of our region. On Monday a young girl died following a freak accident at a ski hill nearby during a school outing. It’s too terrible to contemplate for long. 

With today’s news feeds, these particularly horrific events come with a backdrop of other, more abstractly awful things, from escalating threats of war, to the rising cost of living pushing people to the brink, to revelations confirming that many rich and powerful people, including the current US president, were eagerly palling around with Jeffery Epstein. 

Sometimes it can feel like too much, like there’s a weight pressing down on your chest. The feeling that things are getting worse, or that our society is spinning out of control can get overwhelming, especially when our social media algorithms are rubbing our noses in evidence of this decay non-stop. 

There’s an overwhelming sense that there’s little any one individual can do to set things right. The average person can’t stop the rich and powerful from committing crimes on their private islands, nor can they stop corporations from destroying the environment in pursuit of shareholder value. It’s hard enough putting your own house in order, let alone trying to change the world around you.

The modern prophet Fred Rogers once said to “look for the helpers” when things on the news get scary. As much as the man and his wisdom are to be admired, the helper’s presence isn’t always obvious, nor necessarily much of a comfort. 

This is compounded by the fact that our lives are primarily conducted on our phones, numerous daily human interactions mediated by technology. A certain degree of this general feeling of gloom can be attributed to the fact that social media algorithms thrive on conflict and aimless distraction. Not that the legacy media is much better, just less capable of holding people’s attention.

However, what drives traffic and views is often not an accurate depiction of reality. It’s easy to have your vision blinkered by being too online, but it’s also possible to log off. 

Tragedies are unfortunately inevitable in this life, and it’s easier than ever to witness one in high definition. Being informed about the world around you doesn’t require immersing yourself in an ocean of misery. There are always helpers, people working for the benefit of their communities, and while their work might not be obvious or immediately compelling, it’s necessary. 

As much as our technology saves us time, it can also be an energy vampire if approached without proper hygiene. 

We’re not going to doomscroll our way to the world we want to see.

Caleb Nickerson