30 Minutes of News Ruined My Whole Night

I was making dinner one night last week. I asked Alexa to play some news radio. Instead of going to a ‘just the facts’ station, I ended up listening to pundits discussing the events of the day. 

I turned it off when my husband got home so we could enjoy a nice meal, review the minutiae of our respective days and ask if the other had seen the funny meme we’d sent. You know, empty-nester stuff. 

After dinner, we made our way into the den. Sitting quietly, watching TV, I began to notice an uneasy feeling coming over me. I couldn’t quite put my finger on the emotion and tried to shake it off. No such luck. I carried it with me upstairs. 

Washing up in the bathroom, I was still trying to get to the bottom of the emotion so I could at least name it as a first step towards moving through it. The closest I could get was PMS moodiness. Except it’s been a hot minute since THAT was a thing for me. But, I’d recently started on HRT so promptly googled: “Can you experience feelings of PMS due to HRT.”  

And, while Google said you absolutely can experience symptoms of PMS while on HRT, I wasn’t convinced that was my problem. 

With the lights off and my eye mask on, I continued to process my emotions by walking through the days events to see if I could uncover any potential triggers, stressors, worries, conflicts that could have brought on this feeling of unease. 

BTW, I would 100% NOT RECOMMEND doing this yourself. It’s not particularly conducive as a bedtime ritual!

And then it hit me. 

THE NEWS! The damn news. 

I listened to maybe 20 minutes of that radio program and the ‘haze of malaise’ crept in shortly thereafter.  

It makes perfect sense, actually. Watching/listening to negative television or doom scrolling triggers our fight or flight response which, in turn, increases stress hormones like cortisol that leave us feeling exhausted and hopeless. I remember hearing about a study that said just 14 minutes of negative TV can immediately impact your mood AND have a lingering effect.  

So, while the mystery was solved, it brought up another thought. Like, how I can I remain informed on the issues of the day while still managing to protect my mental health and well being? 

The next thing I knew, I was thinking about boundaries – those protective lines we draw around what's okay and what's not, what we'll allow in and what we won't.

Clearly, there was very little sleep to be had this evening.

Because then I started thinking about the word “curation.”  It’s a great word, isn’t it?

While Boundaries can feel heavy, even exhausting to maintain, curation feels more deliberate, purpose-driven and creative. It’s not just about collecting things, but rather about giving them meaning through their arrangement.  

So here's what I'm thinking: What if, instead of just setting boundaries around what drains us, we actively curated what sustains us? What if we got as intentional about what we let in as we are about what we keep out?

Boundaries create the container. Curation fills it with what matters.

Here are some ways I'm thinking about this – not rules really, just possibilities for designing your days with more intention; a way to curate your wellbeing when the world feels particularly heavy:

Create rituals that anchor you. Whether it's morning coffee in silence, a weekly call with someone who gets you, or Friday night movie nights – curate small, recurring moments that feel like coming home to yourself.

Curate your physical space. What's on your walls? Your nightstand? Your kitchen counter? If it doesn't serve you or make you feel something good, why is it taking up real estate in your life?

Choose your inputs deliberately. Instead of passively consuming whatever's in front of you, actively select: the podcast that makes you think, the newsletter that sparks ideas, the book you've been meaning to read. Make it a choice, not a default.

Be intentional with who you spend time with. That saying about becoming the average of the five people you spend the most time with? It's real. Seek out people who energize rather than drain you, who make you want to be braver, kinder, more curious. 

Protect your mornings (or evenings, or whatever time is sacred to you). Don't let the world's chaos be the first thing you consume. Curate what you let in during your most vulnerable or precious hours.

Seek out beauty. Actively look for it – a good piece of writing, art that moves you, nature that stops you in your tracks. Train your eye to search for what elevates rather than what enrages.

Move your body in ways that feel like joy, not punishment. Dance in your kitchen. Walk somewhere beautiful. Stretch on the floor with your dog. Curation applies to how you treat yourself physically too.

Build in moments of stillness—not as a reward, but as a practice. Even five minutes of sitting with tea, staring out a window, or just breathing without your phone nearby. Curate pockets of quiet where nothing is asked of you and you're not producing anything. Just being.

And if you find yourself lying awake trying to name that uneasy feeling? Start here. What you let in matters.