reclaimourreality-blog

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The Birth of the RECLAIM OUR REALITY Brand and Movement.

RECLAIM OUR REALITY - ROR

THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 2018

For many years, the very first thing I would do when I woke in the morning was turn on a 24 hour news channel like CNN or FOX or ABC… or ten others, you know the ones.  I can say with almost 100% certainty, that whichever program I was watching, the news was awful.  Mostly news about human tragedy, world conflicts, racial hatred, political unrest, personal divisiveness, controversial discussions, and societal deficiencies, just to place a drop in a bucket. 

I would eat up ever image, word, and tear being broadcast into my kitchen, along with an English muffin with strawberry jelly. As a human being with compassion and intellect, the news tugged at my emotions from many different angles. I was sad when hearing about a teen dying in a car accident, I was angered to hear that an old woman was beaten and robbed in her apartment building in Manhattan, and I was scared shitless to hear that the conflict in Syria was escalating, with tensions between world powers turning into a cat fight.    

I would carry these emotions into the shower, running the opinions of the experts on every political controversy through my mind.  There was agreement with one but passionate disagreement with another. The topics were a little different from day to day but the emotions felt were the same. It was my belief that these issues were imperative to the health and well-being of the human race and the world. I could not help but to get emotional. By the time I finished shaving, I came to the conclusion that the world was in turmoil and since I was a part of the world, it meant that I was in turmoil too.  This feeling of dread would accompany me throughout much of each day. How could I not think about it? Shouldn’t I be trying to do something? The very survival of the world was at stake.

Then one day I had an epiphany. After my morning two hour dose of relentless news coverage and nauseating political debate put me into another ritualistic state of despair, I noticed something magical while exiting my apartment building along West Broadway. There, passing in front of me, was  a mid-30’s something guy dressed in casual Friday attire riding one of those antique two wheel bikes, with him sitting atop the 60 inch high front wheel, pedaling down Broadway among the cars. He had large headphones on and was drumming the beat of an unknown upbeat song with both arms. It was a comical sight, and for a few seconds I felt a reprieve from the despair I was feeling and started laughing out loud.  How could this guy be so happy and carefree when there was so much turmoil, devastation and conflict in the world, I asked myself?  He had to know, right? Or did he? Then it hit me like a flying bird turd to the nose. He didn’t know that the world was close to destruction from global warming.  He didn’t know that political turmoil was leading to civil disorder. He didn’t know that we could be in a nuclear war with North Korea within the next few minutes. He couldn’t know, or else he wouldn’t be so damn happy. I envied him.

I convinced myself that I would not dwell on any of the news coverage that I had watched that morning while watching the antique bicycle riding guy fade out of sight. I would instead only concern myself with what was facing me at that very moment, and no longer feel despair over the state of the world. As I went about my day, I began to notice that the experiences I was encountering were sublime and mostly trouble free… even pleasant. I was able to drive unimpeded from uptown to the midtown tunnel and only met a 10 minute delay getting onto the LIE. Tens of thousands of other cars were taking the same route and also getting uniformly to their destinations. I marveled at that for a few seconds. That’s not chaos but rather incredibly innovative organization. I couldn’t help but smile. When I stopped at a delicatessen close to my office, there was a line backed up to the door, but people were mostly pleasant and patient. Many races were represented.  There were three teenage African American females carrying backpacks, an Asian couple about 50ish, a very sharply dressed elderly Hispanic man, and two other white males besides myself, both wearing a muddied sweatshirt and work boots.  Wow, I thought, there isn’t a race relations crisis going on at Ben’s Kosher on this Tuesday morning. 

Since I was able to keep my mind off of the news all day, I began to recognize that the world which I lived in, my existence, and the existence of most of those who were around me, was a pretty pleasant one. Most everyone respected each other. There was an organizational structure in place that kept society operating rather smoothly. Most of our needs were met routinely. We had modern conveniences that made everyday tasks easier and easier. We had endless entertainment at our fingertips. We could communicate with people throughout the world instantaneously. Global travel was faster, easier and cheaper than ever. And, of course, there was endless beauty everywhere… the sky, the sun, the trees, the birds, the flowers, the wonder. The world was better than ever, so why were so many people miserable, and why was it a common perception that the world was in chaos, people hated each other, and that we were nearing self-destruction? It didn’t make sense.

The answer quickly became as clear as the Caribbean waters of Roatan. Within the current state of human existence there are two realities. Each one of us live within a technological reality and a personal reality. Our technological reality is being created through the news coverage and opinionated programming we watch on TV and over the Internet. Our personal reality has always been created by the real-life experiences which we encounter every moment we live. For most of us, our personal reality is now being distorted and overtaken by our technical reality because we watch news coverage and opinionated programming regularly, and the information contained within is greatly influencing our perceptions of the world and crafting our reality. The more negative the news coverage and the more divisive the opinions, the more negative and angered our perception of the world and our reality becomes. What is being presented to us by the news media becomes our reality as long as we continue to watch and consume it. 

This collective sense of pessimism is an extremely dangerous thing for the well-being of humankind. When the news mostly shows programming that focuses on society’s problems and fears, the population can not help but believe that the world outside is mostly chaotic and dangerous. This creates internal anxiety and frustration among much of the population, with this anxiety and frustration likely contributing to other negative emotions such as anger, frustration and unhappiness. The news media makes a great effort to ensure that all of these issues seem imperative to each one of us, and they must instill a sense of fear, anger and frustration toward them or else we might not pay attention. In reality though, most of the issues they bring attention to should not frustrate us or instill fear. Most of them will not impact our personal lives at all and should not negatively impact our personal reality. 

It is time for us to start doing something about this. The impact of this global negativity on our collective consciousness is too damaging for us to ignore any longer. We must educate people about the need to make a significant societal change and outline a strategy to accomplish it. This strategy will first be to convince the public that they need to extremely limit the amount of news coverage they watch and consume, and at the same time be very aware that the negative news they do hear is an extremely small representation of the human experiences on earth. In fact, if you were to think of the trillions and trillions of human experiences on earth each and every day, the bad news we see and hear on the news is but a snowflake in a blizzard. Of all human experiences on earth each day, nearly all but a miniscule amount of them are positive and pleasant, yet the negativity shown on the news is what defines our reality. Our collective consciousness needs to focus on the trillions of positive acts that occur each day and create a much more positive reality. With the creation of the Reclaim Our Reality brand and movement, we can bring awareness to this societal issue and get people to take action against the harmful effects of allowing negative news coverage influence our perception and reality.  

Let’s do this world.  Let’s once again see the world for what it truly is… a wondrous, exciting and beautiful place.

Let’s RECLAIM OUR REALITY.

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This is our reality.  Amazement, wonder and beauty are all around us.

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Beautiful

Spring Tunnel by Kento Mori

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What would even be better is if we all just decided not to pay any attention to the negative news and controversy driven opinionated programming.

Let’s RECLAIM OUR REALITY

Imagine if there was a newspaper that was just dedicated to positive news?

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It just eats up our brains.  Exactly!!

Let’s RECLAIM OUR REALITY

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This image is so true in today’s society but we don’t have to allow it to be this way.  Their power of the news media over our reality is only as strong as the attention we give them.  If we stop watching and stop paying attention, they will lose their power and we will see the world in a much brighter light.

Let’s RECLAIM OUR REALITY

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When we think for ourselves and live our lives without allowing the media to make us miserable every day, LIFE IS PRETTY GOOD.

Let’s RECLAIM OUR REALITY 

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The most important revolution that needs to happen in the world is that we all learn to ignore the media and the news and the opinionated BS.  Stop watching the news and regain control of our own lives.  But as this caption states, that revolution will never be broadcast and promoted.  We have to spread the world alone.

Let’s Reclaim Our Reality

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Wow.  Very Powerful.  So what you are saying is that if you don’t cry or get mad over things you can’t control and have nothing to do with your life, you are selfish. That’s the saddest thing I have heard in a while.  Thanks for sharing.

Why are people so crazy, angry, passionate, frustrated, over things they can not control in even the slightest degree?  Its insanity.  Turn off the news and the opinionated programming and live your damn life. 

Let’s RECLAIM OUR REALITY

“if you’re not angry you’re not paying attention” used to be such a powerful phrase but now it’s more accurate to say “if you’re not angry you’re probably exhausted by 5+ years of Panic Outrage Mode and are nearing the limit of your emotional range for reacting to this shit”

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Wow, this speaks volumes about our reality as a society. What an awesome statement.  It’s called anxiety, and it derives from the news media always trying to scare the crap out of us.

Let’s RECLAIM OUR REALITY

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Political debate drives the news media’s engine.

The news media dramatizes political rift to create division in people. The drama of conflict on every political matter builds emotion, anxiety, and frustration on both sides.  The news needs to encourage conflict to keep us engaged. Having everyone choose a side produces a “win or lose” scenario so we all become more emotionally attached to the outcome.  We can combat this by understanding that our only political power, as citizens, lies in our vote. Become educated in the issues and on election day, cast your vote.  That’s all you can do.  Other than a day every two years, politics shouldn’t be a concern.

Let’s RECLAIM OUR REALITY

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This post says a lot about what the negative reality cast by the controversy and fear driven news media and opinionated programming has done to the consciousness of the population.  We are exposed to non stop tragic events from across the globe on a day to day basis and our emotional capacity becomes exhausted.  Watching the news is a societal epidemic that needs to be confronted.  

Let’s RECLAIM OUR REALITY 

“if you’re not angry you’re not paying attention” used to be such a powerful phrase but now it’s more accurate to say “if you’re not angry you’re probably exhausted by 5+ years of Panic Outrage Mode and are nearing the limit of your emotional range for reacting to this shit”

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Even the best sometimes can’t concentrate on the tasks at hand.  Probably consumed with watching the world implode on CNN

Thank

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So unless you are smart enough to recognize beauty, there isn’t any.  Awesome

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Please provide your answer.  

Our perception and sense of reality has been sabotaged by the news media. They have to instill fear and anger in us so that we remain engaged. The world is a much better place than they depict it.  We all need to stop listening to them and start dwelling on the positives of our achievements.

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If after spending a pleasant day on the beach or on a hike or even at the office, you decide to watch 4 hours of negative news coverage and opinionated political debate on one of the lame controversy driven cable news networks, you would be better off doing this to yourself instead.  It will cause less harm and you will recover quicker.

Let’s RECLAIM OUR REALITY.