My dear friends on social media, I beg you to reflect on what you're consuming and how much you are consuming. I've watched so many people in my social media feeds become more and more radicalized, clearly cycling in an information echo chamber.

How do I recognize that? Because I've been there. I've been the person who woke up every day angry at the leaders of my country/state/city/county, angry at my neighbors for not agreeing with my precise public policy...

...and assuming that they only disagree with my policy preferences because they are uninformed or have evil intentions.

I worked for an activist journalist organization (and I'm really proud of my work there and proud of who I worked for and with), and while I was an activist who did journalism I built an echo chamber of information around me that only confirmed and radicalized my opinions.

And I was an expert at it.

During my time working at this organization, I worked from home. I went weeks without seeing people on the outside world and had crazy working hours with little sleep. It was an insane (and yet, fantastic) time.

But I tell you this from experience: isolation + increased social media consumption = radicalization (and a loss of hope).

No, I don't think people are about to become a string of lone wolf terrorists or something. I certainly never had those thoughts. By radicalization, I mean radicalization of public politics, of which there are, most definitely, two reasonable sides.

I'm an absolutist by nature anyway, and being isolated with the job of reporting on current events only furthered that absolutism - at the expense of compassion.

And now I see my conservative, moderate, and liberal friends writing facebook posts, tweets, and instagram stories about how people who disagree with their precise public health policy (of which none are experts) don't care if others die, care more about the economy than lives...

...and hey, maybe a civil war isn't so bad. You are radicalized if you have had those thoughts. I'm sorry. You are. I know, because I was radicalized like this too when those in power weren't on "my side" either during national security and domestic crises.

"But things are different. This is unprecedented!" "We're ACTUALLY IN DANGER NOW!" I know. I know. I felt that way, too. I'm not being dismissive, I'm trying to tell you, I've been there.

I know how exhausting it is to wake up every day and feel like the world is a little darker than it was yesterday and that things aren't getting better.

You may not want to hear this, but you need to take a break.

And if you're an journalist during this, ACTUALLY TAKE YOUR DAYS OFF (and your evenings). And before you write that tweet or post about how the "other side" is so inhuman, check with your friend who doesn't share your politics that you've got it right. (You have those, RIGHT?)

It's not ignoring what's going on in the world. Because here is the dirty secret that the media doesn't want to tell you: Nothing that is happening today is going to change significantly if you take a few days off.

In fact, right now, if you didn't look at a single news article (or watch cable news) for a week there would be nothing SO significant that you missed that would be of detriment to you if you found out about it after the fact.

I know that's hard to believe, and our 24 hour, second-by-second news cycle has done a good job to convince us otherwise, but it's just true. And remember, I've worked in activist media and mainstream media. I live in the heart of political news media for America & live it daily.

You need to look at your neighbors and your family members who you disagree with and find compassion for them.

"But my neighbor/family member literally SAID that terrible thing!" I know, I know.

Here was the hardest lesson for me to learn: Have respect for the other side's argument, in spite of their inability to argue it.

Truly assume the most generous interpretation of what you heard, because unless you are surrounded by psychopaths that you need to cut out of your life (chances are, you aren't), this is probably the most accurate interpretation.

If you're getting radicalized/in an echo chamber during these extraordinary times, isn't it possible your neighbor is, too? Maybe they are in artful, or perhaps, had a moment like yourself of saying something extreme. But you know them.

You know they aren't inhuman and don't kick puppies in the street. So give them some grace, because you need it, too.

Take a break from this news cycle. I beg of you.

- Signed, a freelance journalist and recovering news junkie
Phil 4:6-9