Filtering the Hype: Of Hurricanes, Floods and Power Outages

I don’t know about you, but over the weekend, news of hurricane Irene, possible flooding and potential power outages had me seriously stressed. I began planning my schedule around weather-related issues. I checked in with far-flung family members to ensure safety. I read tweets and watched radar and essentially got myself all worked up for what turned out, at least in my neck of the woods, to be barely more than a mild rainstorm.

I think it’s great that we have channels of information to keep us on top of disasters and even potential disasters, but when Sunday morning the sun was shining and the day turned out to be gorgeous I was lamenting that I wasn’t at a friend’s pool, or that I had turned down opportunities because I feared the weather would be awful.

Shame on me for listening too closely to the feed instead of sticking my head outside and looking at the sky.

Have you done this; become too involved in the online conversation to live in the moment?

I’m glad that by Sunday I walked away from all media and enjoyed the weather. Here’s hoping those affected aren’t for long and that the ongoing hurricane season is also, nothing to lose sleep over.