I’ve realized that I check the news several times a day but not because I’m curious about what’s happening on the grand scheme of things, but because my brain wants to check something that keeps changing with new, evolving information. It fills a slightly different niche than social media, and I don’t watch sports so I don’t have that to check. Can anyone think of something else that could fill this need? I could read blogs but they just don’t feel current. And the news is making be stress about information I didn’t need to know.
Going for a walk can sometimes scratch that itch. Instead of checking the news of a national or global scale, which you can’t ultimately do a lot about anyway, you’re checking “the news” of your immediate environment with your own eyeballs. It usually doesn’t change a lot, but what else is new?
And if it’s nature that catches your interest, in addition to walking, you could follow a live stream of some animal you may or may not care about.
I got into watching an Osprey hatch her eggs on a stream. Didn’t even know about the birds until I started, but the hook set quickly.
Watched that feed for weeks, checking to see who’s been eating, who’s been pooping, & who’s still sleeping. Pretty satisfying by the time the chicks left the nest.
Everytime i go for a walk i see something new that i haven’t noticed before.
Doing what to casual observater seems like the same thing over and over again, can actually be the process of developing a deeper understanding of the subject area than before, (in this case your local neighbourhood).