The Central Ohio Countryside in February 2024 / Photo by Richard Yost & Editing by John Fraim

A Love Supreme / “Pursuance” / John Coltrane (1964)

____________________________________

Journey Away From Media?

John Fraim

It has been difficult for the gaze of the world this past month not to be focused on the Trump trial. The trial ended today with a guilty verdict for Trump. Yet it’s not the end of the national attention on this trial.

Whether one’s political or not, the trial is hard to miss as it’s reported almost 24/7 by all the cable news networks and the radio talk shows. Politics is almost impossible to escape these days and a hard thing to stay out of because politics is pushing its boundaries into religion and other areas it was never in before. 

But I think it is important to take our attention off all media for a while. In order to better understand it. Perhaps in the future, there will be places (spaces) one (or a group, company) might retreat to without any media or connection device. Reflection without media would be one goal or purpose of this perhaps. 

There isn’t any place like this right now – nearby – that I know of. But I’ve been trying to keep this whole trial in a larger perspective. The larger perspective was difficult because the trial was so daily and linear. I tried to get a little above this in the past few weeks. I posted three new blogs to my site and watched and listened to summaries of the days in court. I rode my Trek bike on some large loops.

To better understand the news, I switch back and forth between Fox and CNN. The two are the best representatives for their views. Between media of the nation is divided like the two cable networks. Of course, there are fringes of at network extremes.

* * *

Belief and hope in the future has been a continuous theme through historical empires and nations. Yet belief and hope never worked closer with each other than in the founding America. As we move forward into June and the summer, I feel on that whitewater raft when I lost the paddle going back in the 90s.  

As we move towards our next election, I see a collective danger for all Americans. The nation is close to civil war (perhaps this made the movie Civil War huge success?). We stumble into the future without any real passion or direction.

We are interested in fighting amongst ourselves more than not fighting amongst ourselves. Or at least, fighting our true enemies.

Central Ohio Countryside in February 2024 / Photo by Richard Yost & Editing by John Fraim

My friend Jack Lechner, a former film executive as well as professor at Columbia University, wrote a book titled Can’t Take my Eyes Off of You (referring to a famous pop song of 1967 “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” by the Four Seasons and Frankie Valli.) The book was based on a fascinating experiment he performed for a week. For seven days, he watched twelve televisions and recorded his experiences in his book. It’s a fascinating book presided by many and based on the author’s immersive plunge into a particular medium. 

I feel compelled in the opposite direction of Jack’s experiment. That is, trying to avoid all media rather than immerse oneself in them. (Actually, there is probably sorting a spectrum from immersion to non-immersion in media). I would perform an experiment of staying away from any media for seven days. Record all of this like Jack Lechner did. 

* * *

An escape from media is a key path to a new freedom in the world. Addiction to media is making the populace more susceptible to AI it seems to me. And this addiction certainly describes our modern world. Popular culture. 

But escaping from media is a much more difficult task than one would ever suspect it would be. It’s not a freedom that I or family members have achieved. Or that we have even discussed yet. Just a thought right now. An idea on a particular place or business. Perhaps providing a totally silent seven days like a trip I was going to take with my friend in the 80 somewhere down the coast south of San Francisco. 

One day, this kind of thing might be big. For now, I try to fight listening to it and concentrate on living in the present and listening to my feelings (and my partner’s feelings) more than anything else. A couple should participate in this. 

* * *

More than anything else, my feelings for writing this article is that it doesn’t take an experiment like the above to tell me that I fear for the country not about Trump or Biden winning the presidency. 

What I really fear most is that America has lost her faith, belief and hope.

Lamp Post at Twilight / John Fraim