I’ve always had good rhythm.

I’m not bragging, I’m just saying.

When we’re talking about music, good rhythm is, in some ways, something that can be developed over time, something that be learned. In other ways, a good sense of rhythm is either something you have … or something you don’t.

Having good rhythm is hard to describe, though. It’s having an innate sense of when to play and when not to play; of when to sing and when to be quiet. Sometimes you can’t figure it out ahead of time … you just have to feel it in the moment as you play. You have to feel the groove.

Feeling Out of Sync

This year, everything feels out of sync. EveryONE feels out of sync to one degree or another. It’s just a little … off. Some days more than others.

Obviously, there are a lot of things that have contributed to that. Our normal “rhythms” have certainly been thrown completely out of whack. Things don’t look to return to the old version of “normal” any time soon. And the “new normal” everyone’s been talking about is still unsettling.

Part of the reason we feel out of sync is this new reality has both SLOW DOWN and SPEED UP elements simultaneously woven into it.

In some ways, we’ve been able to SLOW DOWN a bit because (at least for a while) we were commuting less and running fewer errands. We weren’t going all of the places we used to go, we weren’t shuttling kids around or making trips to Home Depot or the grocery store or the mall every weekend. So in some ways, that felt like slowing down.

On the other hand, the pace of news, social media, and political division has definitely seemed to SPEED UP (if that’s possible). Maybe it’s because we have been even more connected because of our desire to hear the latest on the historic events taking place, but it’s like someone is holding the scan forward button to where it’s difficult to discern what’s actually happening because it’s going by so quickly.

The pace of what’s known as “the 24-hour news cycle” is nothing new. It’s been discussed for years. A couple of executives who worked in the news industry put out a book back in 2008 called No Time to Think: The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle. Tom Johnson, former Chief Executive at CNN and former CEO at the LA Times, when reviewing No Time to Think, said, “The traditional policy of ‘getting it right,’ often has been replaced by the urgency of ‘getting it first.'”

Yeah. We can tell.

The biggest problem with the speed of the 24-hour news cycle, though, is not the lack of accuracy (in my opinion). It’s the lack of perspective. The rhythm metaphor will help us again here.

Music only makes sense when it’s played in the proper rhythm. Rhythm means that there are times when you’re playing and times when you’re … not playing. It lets your ear know what’s important to listen to. It allows certain things to be emphasized and other things to be lessened.

In the 24-hour news cycle, they’re playing all the time. It’s nothing but pure noise. There’s no rhythm to it whatsoever. Lesser events can become huge—because they have to have something to post. What’s even worse, though, is that truly important events can become trivialized because they’re placed right alongside items we should never have heard about.

And the design of our news feeds doesn’t usually help this, either, when every item is presented in the same format—with the same size headline, the same size photo, and the same amount of preview text. Visually, the design communicates that they are all of equal importance. (Again, no rhythm … just noise.)

No wonder we feel out of sync. No wonder we’ve lost our groove.

Creating Space

For thousands of years, human beings have found ways to create space and intentional rhythms that help them live a more full experience of life. God spoke to the ancient Hebrews about a 6 & 1 rhythm that should define their weekly life as a community.

In fact, the creation story in Genesis 1 tells us that this 6 & 1 rhythm is built into the fabric of the universe from the very beginning. When God was doing His work of creation, He worked for 6 days … and then when He was finished, He rested on the seventh day.

God … rested? God? Why would God (you know … the One who had just spoken everything into existence) need to … rest?

I would submit to you that He didn’t NEED to rest. He just knows that it is GOOD to rest.

[Here’s another interesting thing to me about the creation story. Why didn’t God just do it all at once? Couldn’t He have done that? Of course He could have. Instead, He took His time. He did a part … then paused to notice the goodness of that part … even though the entire job wasn’t finished. Then He did another part …. then paused to notice the goodness of that part. Interesting.]

When God was done creating everything else … He created space … to rest. God has good rhythm.

Neurologist and psychoanalyst Victor Frankl said, “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response likes our growth and freedom.”

Our current “new normal” has conspired to make us believe that there is no space in our lives. There is no rhythm, no time, no gap in which to think, to process, to rest.

If any of this resonates with you, I’d like to make 3 simple suggestions for getting your groove back when you’re feeling out of sync. These may seem like no-brainers … but many of us don’t do them on a regular or consistent basis.

1 – Take intentional breaks from the news.

Just because the news is always on or always being posted doesn’t mean you have to consume it. Just turn it off. Close the app. Whatever the crisis is, it will either still be there tomorrow or (more likely) it will be gone tomorrow (meaning it wasn’t much of a crisis after all).

And you should probably do this on at least a weekly basis. There is definitely something significant about that 6 & 1 rhythm. But at the same time, pay attention to your soul. If you need to do this more often because you’re feeling out of sync, do it more often.

2 – Take intentional breaks from social media.

Taking a break from the news doesn’t do much good if you’re still on social media. So I would suggest coordinating your breaks from the news with breaks from social media. But these really are two different things (news and social media) … and you need regular breaks from both of them.

One more thing about this one. Please don’t announce on social media that you’re taking a break from social media. It’s not necessary … and kind of weird. It would be like walking into a bar and saying, “Hey, everyone! I just wanted you all to know that I’m not going to be drinking alcohol for a while. Just so you know.” If any of your Facebook friends notice you haven’t been posting on social media as much and they text you … congratulations! They care about you! You don’t have to make it weird.

3 – Schedule things you can look forward to.

This is a big part of getting your groove back. One of the things we’ve lost in the new normal is our sense of anticipation. We’ve shifted to a day-to-day kind of existence where we’re not making plans to do anything beyond the norm.

If your family is into movies, it might be as simple as planning a family movie night. Or a game night. Or a Netflix Watch Party with some friends from across the country. Or a walk around the block. Whatever it is, schedule something that’s life-giving that can be pretty consistent.

If you want to get your groove back, you’re going to have to create space with some intentional rhythms.

---

REFERENCE LINKS

No Time to Think: The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle