Can We Talk About Something Else?

The other thing I notice when I listen to other people’s conversations is how unhappy everyone seems to be. They are discussing the latest celebrity tragedy or world crisis with such relish. They are also very angry at what the other side is doing, but they are really just feeding off all of this disaster – “A woman was a vegetable in Florida fourteen years and somebody else opened fire on a school yard and this person divorced this person.” I think, “Oh, my God, is there really nothing more to talk about?”

Of course, there isn’t, if that’s all that’s going into your brain. Everyday I am thankful I got rid of my cable TV and newspapers, and the hardest thing I have to deal with in my life is people who say to me, “Did you hear about?” And I have to say, “No, I didn’t, and I would appreciate not hearing about it now. Remember, I got rid of my TV, and I got rid of my newspaper, and I don’t read magazines, so I wouldn’t have to know about these events, so why would I want to have you tell me about them? Please, let’s either talk about something else, or go quietly into the garden and let the flowers and birds do the talking.