The Balancing Act
by Dr. John M. Halloran // April 29, 2025
“If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you…” Brattleboro’s own (sort of) Rudyard Kipling was living in Dummerston in 1895 when he penned these words that begin his poem “If” (when he wasn’t writing Jungle Book). If he lived here today, would he maybe say the same thing about our national and global news climate? Social Media on the subject can be even more maddening. On whichever side.
“I can’t handle the relentlessness anymore” a wise friend said to me a little while ago, “but I feel an ethical obligation to remain informed.” The self-preserving need to back away from the cacophony and chaos versus the responsibility to stay aware because it matters. Quite the tricky balancing act. How to keep your head when so many seem to be losing theirs? A handful of suggestions follow that might be useful; take what you like and leave the rest. Tell yourself:
I am my own gatekeeper.
I have jurisdiction over what I allow into my awareness. I am allowed to ration my news exposure, such as: Only for a specific amount of time per day. Not after or before a certain hour. Just for limited increments of time. Indignation, outrage, fear, and drama all can have mood- altering, even intoxicating, effects on me. It’s up to me to stay mind-sober and alert.
I can provide myself a “mental palate-cleanser.”
Fancy restaurants give a little lemon sorbet or whatever between courses to neutralize the previous taste and more appreciate the next one. I would do well to deliberately expose myself to lighter topics after a dose of intense news: that comedian that makes me laugh my head off, looking at cat videos or documentaries about penguins, reading a Vermont police detective novel, playing a practical joke on my roommate, drawing anime … you pick.
I influence my own cognitive algorithm.
The lords of the content-feed universe base their prompts on what I already looked at or listened to. Maybe without intending to (or maybe I intend a little), I nudge my thinking along certain lines that, like it or not, I chose on my own. I have the power to goose my own cognitive algorithm in directions I know will be saner or healthier or safer for my peace of mind. I can also sway my own self-talk if I ‘install’ uplifting or life-giving ‘message-software’ into my head first thing after I wake up, instead of focusing on the latest outrage the other team is up to now. It boils down to just mixing my choices up a little.
If I bring my body around, my mind will follow.
The adage, “move a muscle, change the mind,” has helped push many a person into a freer mindset over the years. A great antidote to getting stuck in my head (known as rumination in psycho-babble) is for me to just do something else: walk into a different room, dig in the garden, muck a horse stall, play with the dog, split some wood, help somebody out, hike Wantastiquet, floss.Rudyard Kipling left Brattleboro in 1896 — his loss and ours. But the work of keeping our heads on straight remains, some say now more than ever. The balancing act of sanity and solidarity goes on. It’s our responsibility. And our opportunity. And a lot of it’s an inside job
Dr. John M. Halloran is a licensed clinical psychologist and licensed alcohol and drug counselor at the Brattleboro Retreat.
