The more things change the more they stay the same

Or , “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose” as they say in France and in some social circles or as some say “its Ground Hog Day!” Mondays can feel like that. The week starts with elevated stress levels on Sunday evening as we look forward to the new week. Touching the diary and scoping out the challenges and with luck the pleasures to come. Monday arrives and routine takes over. Just getting out the door has been a bit of a hassle. No question by Monday lunch time we are looking forward to the weekend.

If we are a follower of football or politics or both we are scanning the news sheets and media channels for developments in our chosen fields of interest. A football manager is fired , resigns or is hired. A politician is elected , unelected or pronounces the latest phenomenal policy that will resolve this or that special concern. Tuesday dawns and as we pursue our own individual concerns the news channels keep us informed and up to date with Global concerns. As the week progresses all of the news flows merge in our minds we forget what happened recently or the thread that leads from one event or headline to the next. By Thursday we are emotionally exhausted by the individual tragedies and triumphs from across the world added to those close to us. Besides our own individual challenges we are touched every hour day and week by so many others , literally a flood of news threatening to wash us away.

A coping strategy is to select news channels, this one for example, to edit or curate the flood for you. Someone else makes the decisions and choices about what you see hear and read . Rather than ranging across the whole internet spectrum you make a choice of editor and editorial team or as I propose an old fashioned term a Newspaper to keep you sane and in touch.

So despite the many advantages of the Internet , its scope and range we are coming to the conclusion that to stay sane we need newspapers or risk being washed away in the flood. All the technology in the world at our disposal and the newspaper or newssheet a 17th century invention remains as important and relevant as ever. Have a good week!