KEEPING CONNECTED TO THE WORLD

INTERNATIONAL NEWS IS A PRIORITY

For the last six months I have slowly been isolating myself from the world, not in a bad mental health way, but, by not keeping up on what is happening around the globe. It happened gradually, a change in job and routine meant I stopped listening to podcasts. A faster commute to work meant I missed the World News on the radio. Summer - well, you are forced to disconnect with the rest of the world when you are off camping. 
I didn't think much about it, I mean listening to the news and keeping up with world events was kind of a hobby, a luxury...but, I'm too busy now and it doesn't fit into my life. 

So what?

Well, I realized the other day that I'm becoming ignorant. 

A few small things happened to make me realize that the path I'm leading is probably not that great. I just happen to be was watching (no judging please) the Duggers (that 25 kids and counting even more show) and one of the boys was on a honeymoon in Greece. The thing that struck : how obvious it was that they knew nothing about Greece, the people, the cities, the history, the politics, how hard the financial crisis of ten years ago hit them (and they are still paying for it), the immigration problems...nothing. They knew nothing! Which makes sense b/c their family completely isolates themselves from the world. Fine for them, but, I don't want to be like that. And, I certainly don't want my kids to start their life like that.

What American's think of Europe.

Then I managed to hear about the terrible bridge collapse in Italy, and someone questioned how that could happen. And, I actually had an opinion - from the years of listening to world news I've learned a few things about how Italy runs (and it doesn't seem to have the most efficient public service sector) and I recall hearing concerns over infrastructure in Italy years ago. It made sense to me. I felt informed. 

That made me realize how important taking some time to keep up on international news. It's one of those things where you take in tiny clips everyday and over the years you develop a wide knowledge base that you can call upon to make sense of the world. It kind of helps see through fake news...

Long term exposure to news lets you see the real picture

What I am doing to accomplish this you ask?

Making time to listen to my favourite (and most trusted) update - CBC World at Six. I listen to the podcast the next day b/c I'm usually busy at six taking the kids to sports, or making dinner, or just living life.

Getting out of North American, figuratively of course. It seems the North American news bubble is so focused on itself that it rarely notices there are places like Europe, Africa, Asia, where interesting things happen too.
Which is why I make the trip to BBC World Service - Making a point to visit this site where there are interesting shows and articles from the entire world. And, the 'news' is not the typical negative-fear inducing-headline worthy kind of news that we are used to. There are positive stories about small accomplishments that give you a real idea of how life works in different parts of the world.

I am going to make an effort to share tidbits of what is going on in the world with the kids. Have those mind blowing conversations around the dinner table where I explain the intricacies of how the European Union is dealing with immigration...or maybe keep the topic simple.