Stepping Off the Doom Train: Why I’m Leaving the News Cycle (and Why You Might Want To, Too)

On February 18, the White House - posted a video of immigrants in shackles boarding a deportation flight. The caption read:

“ASMR: Illegal Alien Deportation Flight.”

ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response)—is usually associated with a physical tingling sensation often initiated by titillating content—was being used to brand human suffering as entertainment. It was posted by THE WHITE HOUSE. On their official X account.

(click on image to see the original post on the official White House account on X)

That was my breaking point.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, or creatively drained by the increasingly incomprehensible news cycle, you’re not alone. But I have good news: it’s possible to unplug, reclaim your energy, and rebuild your life without falling victim to the demands of our screen-lives. Let me tell you how I did it—and why I’m already feeling lighter and more inspired.

I'm Civic Minded

I’ve spent years trying to stay informed, parsing through news sources that claim to be neutral, following journalists and content creators who break things down, even doomscrolling TikTok to hear perspectives beyond the mainstream. And yet, no matter how “smart” or “balanced” my media diet, I was still getting played.

Because the system isn’t built to inform us—it’s built to consume us.

It’s taken me decades to realize: my attention is their currency. Trump. Musk. Online news. Political TikTok. They don’t just want power, they want us—our clicks, our outrage, our exhaustion. And I was feeding them.

Not anymore.

How I Got Stuck in the Cycle

Like a lot of us, I thought I was doing it right. I wasn’t glued to partisan echo chambers—I was reading The Guardian, Reuters, AP. I followed nuanced writers like Heather Cox Richardson and Isaac Saul of “Tangled” and Substack creators trying their best to stay apolitical. I even supplemented with politically-savvy TikTokers and podcasters. Sometimes screaming their frustrations - both sides. All sides.

But no matter the source, the pattern was the same:

1. Clickbait headlines

2. The case for outrage

3. Comment sections filled with reactive fear, anger and frustration

4. And then another to replace it before our heart rate goes back to normal

And somewhere in that loop, my energy, my creative spark, and my joy for life were getting stomped to death.

What the News Cycle Was Doing to Me

At first, it was just overwhelm and emotional fatigue. Then it became something deeper.

I started waking up anxious, scanning my phone before I even got out of bed.I felt powerless, frustrated, hopeless.I caught myself thinking about doom and gloom in an endless awful loop. Musk and Trump were claiming space in my consciousness almost ceaselessly as I tried to comprehend the meaning of their demands, needs and bottomless desires.

Worst of all, I could feel my creative energy drying up, my art shifting from a place of joy to a reactionary response to the world’s never-ending crises.

And for what?

Nothing I was consuming was making me happier. I was feeling less and less safe in this world. Nothing I was reading was directed at making real change. I was just another exhausted, depleted human in a sea of exhausted, depleted humans, all being used as fuel for an insatiable machine.

That’s when I knew: I had to step away.

How I'm Leaving The News Cycle - the intentional unplug

Last week, I made a radical shift:

✅ Deleted all news apps

.✅ Unsubscribed from every politically driven newsletter.

✅ Unfollowed all content creators whose focus was politics, outrage, or crisis.

✅ Stopped searching for current events.

✅ Deleted my 18-year-old Facebook and Instagram accounts.

And then, I started rebuilding my information diet intentionally:

✅ Subscribing to podcasts that focus on wellness, storytelling, and creativity.

✅ Following Substacks and BlueSky creators who inspire, not exhaust.

✅ Reading actual books in the evening instead of doomscrolling.

✅ Running a daily creativity group for the month of March.

✅ Resetting the feeds on the social media apps I'm still using—more kittens, more art, more science.

I’m only a few days in, and already, something profound is happening:

By leaving the news cycle I'm thinking about Trump and Musk way less. Like almost not at all from at least hourly since the November U.S. election.

I feel… lighter.

My creative spark—the one I thought might be gone for good—is already flickering back to life.

“But You Have to Stay Informed!” (Do We, Though?)

I know what some of you are thinking: “But isn’t unplugging irresponsible?”

I hear you. I’ve been politically engaged my entire adult life. I’ve marched, I’ve donated, I’ve educated myself. I've participated.

But here’s what I’ve come to realize: we don’t owe our constant exhaustion to the world.

If anything, we artists actually owe this existence is our most focused, creative selves.

And if someone tries to guilt me back into the chaos, I have responses ready:

👉 “I’m not ‘checked out’; I just stopped mainlining misery like it’s my job. Meanwhile, my art isn’t out here trying to tank democracy or my mental health, so I think I’ll stick with that.”

👉 “Oh, I should be drowning in existential dread for the greater good? That’s cute. I’ll prioritize that right after my duty to not lose my damn mind.”

You Can’t Rely on Simpson’s Predictions Forever

Somehow The Simpson’s always manages to scarily predict the weirder of the future’s highlights. But at some point you have to step in and exert your own influence. That’s the job of younger generations. I’m 67. I’ve given decades of my attention, my energy, my hope to the political sphere. And while I’ll always care, I’m realizing: this is not my battle to fight anymore.

It’s time for the younger generations to step into leadership—to decide what kind of future they want. And honestly? I hope they fight like hell for it.

But my role is different now. I’ve lived long enough to understand that the world needs more than just people who react—it needs people who create.

And that’s where I’m putting my energy.

I’m reclaiming my joy. I’m choosing my art. I’m stepping back, not out of apathy, but out of the deep belief that creating something beautiful is its own form of rebellion.

And I invite you—especially if you’re feeling drained—to consider doing the same.

What About You?

Are you feeling the same exhaustion? Have you thought about unplugging? What would stepping away mean for you?

Let me know in the comments. Let’s talk about how we actually want to live.