A few years ago I got rid of all political news from my feeds. I still have a lot of it blocked, because it did good things for my mental health, but I let some of it back in because I wanted to be aware of what has happening in the world. I think this was a good call. I like having some knowledge without being knocked out by it. And you do get knocked out by it.

I don’t think it’s healthy to read all the tragedies of the world 24/7. That sounds like common sense, but sometimes I worry that it’s not. Sometimes I worry that people have built being hyper aware into their personalities. And if not their personalities, into their routines.

This is one of the reasons I think it’s important to follow accounts that post art, that post family updates, cleaning tips, garden inspiration, fashion goals, and all those types of things. And when I say follow those types of accounts, I mean mostly follow those types of accounts and people. Follow way more of those accounts than news accounts. Surround yourself with the good and let in a trickle of the bad.

You’re aware of the bad that way, you see the news, you know what’s going on, but you aren’t fixated on it. You aren’t submerged in it so deep that you feel the need to bring it up in every conversation. You have a way to detox off of it even if you are still spending time on your phone or laptop (taking offline breaks is preferred, but lets be real, we like our devices- so we should make it work both ways).

Not only will having these kinds of feeds give your mental health a great break, it’ll help you become a more rounded person. It will let you talk about your hobbies and loves more than tragedies and politics. It’ll also keep you from feeling like you need to have an opinion on everything. Which keeps us from making uninformed opinions because we can’t possibly come up with an answer for everything and gather enough knowledge to do so.

The truth is you can care deeply about certain movements or topics without reading about them 24/7. Submerging yourself to deep can lead to depression, anxiety, and hopelessness. I’m not saying you should give up you’re fight for x,y, or z. I’m saying you shouldn’t surround yourself with it all the time and that you deserve breaks. These breaks will help your mental health and they will also keep you from falling down subtopic rabbits holes that take away your ability to reasonably assess a given topic.

So do yourself a favor, follow some detox accounts, step back from the news a little. Mute a few friends who are a little to extreme. Laugh at a few cat videos if you will. Spend time getting inspired for your hobbies.

Don’t forget that there is more to life than the fights and the worlds tragedies. You deserve it.