Does it grow corn?

A shaman friend of mine has a great, useful expression for determining if something merits your attention: Does it grow corn? 

Corn has historically been a diet staple in many tribal societies. Tribes are always looking for ways to increase their crop yield to better feed their community. Soil conditions, irrigation, planting and harvesting methods – all are optimized to produce the most robust crop. Any technique they sampled that didn’t achieve the desired effect was cast off as useless.

If your attention is drawn to something that seems to invoke your emotions,  you can use the same test: does it grow corn?

Does it feed you, or drain you?

Are you enriched by it, or does it add to your stress burden?

If it doesn’t grow corn for you then cast it off as useless.

This is particularly true for disturbing media, that most of us are exposed to daily.  Whether “news” or social media posts and comments resist the impulse to be triggered to outrage, and expressing your counterpoint.

Just move on. Seek that which feeds you, and ignore that which drains you.