What we are taught to want
What we take in through our senses impacts our health as does what we eat and drink. In the time ahead, let us resolve to take in healthy food, clean water, and nourishing sensations.
Dear friends: I hope those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving in the U.S. were able to enjoy peaceful time with loved ones. I hope those who recognize Native American Heritage day were able to honor the painful history and powerful contributions of the indigenous folk on this land.
Over the holiday I was at a home where the television is always on. The “morning shows,” which seem to function as antithesis to the late-night shows, dominated our morning routine. Friendly faces chatted loudly about events of the day, filling a huge screen in the living room.
These shows had entire segments devoted to selling items. Not advertisements between stories, or Consumer Reports-like coverage of value and durability. Actual promotion of merchandise to their viewers. Forgive my schock, if not surprise, as I am not a commercial television watcher, at the normalization of marketing combined with “news.” Of course viewers would turn to these trusted hosts to decide what to buy as holiday gifts. No acknowledgement of relationships with the product makers or disclaimers about sponsorships, mind you. Straight-up marketing for specific gadgets, decor, clothing, and more.
The rest of their content alternated between fluff pieces and true-crime sensationalism; in a clear demographic slant toward older Americans, the actual ads were almost entirely for pharmaceuticals designed to minimize or eliminate any unwanted symptoms of anything, with long readings of possible side effects (headache, dizziness, nausea, be cautious operating machinery, may cause seizures) at high speed.
Of course everyone chooses their intake of infotainment, and many choose more substantive nourishment. But I walked out of that home wondering how many millions learn about the world this way, see a nation every morning of dog shows and murders, merchandise and medications, all brightly lit and presented with broad smiles and no nuance, no actual relationships of people to their community, to their bodies, to their local shopkeepers.
In this and thousands of other ways, we are taught to want stuff, drugs, and safety. We are sold images of a bright and happy world, marred only by incontinence and sensational crimes. We are taught to pony up our savings to ensure everyone knows we have the resources to buy the latest gadgets.
What we take in through our senses impacts our health as does what we eat and drink. Our “diet” of sensory input can feed our suffering, or reduce it. It seems to me, at times, that consumer capitalism intentionally feeds our suffering through sensory outputs like these shows, in order to entice us into purchases promising to salve that same suffering.
In the days, weeks, and months ahead, let us resolve to take in healthy food, clean water, and nourishing sensations. To evaluate the content of sensory offerings as if they were as important as ensuring our food and water are safe - because they are.
Because attending to our own health gives us the strength to engage in the ongoing struggle for the true safety of inclusive, thriving communities, to be of service to those who need us.
Be safe and well, take care, and stay healthy. You are needed.
