A little bit of scene setting. Because of the pandemic, myself and my family are trying to stay safe as much as possible. The current advice is to work from home, so instead of travelling to the office, weekday life is centred at home (with the occasional trip out in the car to run family members around). Apart from a shopping trip on Saturday, we're at home. We're not meeting together at the Corps on Sundays at the moment, so even on Sunday I am usually at home. And that, of course, means that I have lots of extra time on my hands. How best to use that?
I'm catching up on my podcasts; listening to music and to the radio; reading books; binge watching TV and DVD box sets. Pretty much an ideal lifestyle for an introvert.
And of course I am thinking... and blogging!
I run the risk of dwelling on things a little too much ('overthinking') so I'm very cautious when I let my mind wander in this way. I'm also well aware of the influence of the media (TV, radio, social media) who are dedicated to the propagation of one particular way of thinking, or another. Telling us all how to think.
That's why I have been taking another look at my own particular perception of what is happening in the world at the moment. Because I strive to understand, and to make up my own mind on the top news stories.
We are bombarded with opinions from the media. Other people’s experiences about something or other. Sharing our own perception is never easy. 'That's your point of view', they say. 'I have a different one'. Freedom of speech is a valid legal principle. See here.
During the pandemic, each day blurs into the next, and it seems to me that the news agenda doesn't change - the topics are predictable, and seem always to be the same. No wonder so many switch off - ignore the stories being shared. 'Turn it off; let's see what's on the other channel...'
The top three news stories in the news this very day (apart from the pandemic!) is an ongoing battle concerning questionable integrity in the UK Government; decisions made by an overseas Government about whether to exclude a tennis player from an international tennis tournament; a legal battle in the US involving a member of the Royal Family. They've been the top news stories for about a week now (familiarity breeds contempt)...
Opinions on both sides are shared, and shared again. The media try to explore as many different aspects of each story so that they can share a balanced argument with the general public. Each are other people's perception of the truth. However, they can't all be right. They are often contradictory.
Over the last ten years I have described myself in this blog as a 'seeker after truth'. However, and the $64,000 question is, who decides what is true?
I suppose, I do.
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