My experiment in media-avoidance is over. Can a person truly dodge hearing arguably the biggest news in politics for centuries?

I did for almost five days.

Here’s how:

1. Wake up the morning after the election absolutely refreshed and at peace. The main event was over and I wanted to keep the feeling of bliss going for as long as possible. I didn’t want to hear about court battles, recounts, riots, controversy, people being tossed under blame buses.

2. Tell husband and children not to tell me who is President-elect. They swear solemn oaths on their Halloween candy not to spill the beans, but thought I was a big dork.

3. I developed theories on who won based on yard signs and the demeanors of Starbucks employees, store clerks, the people in line at school drop-off.

4. I avoided the 40 million blogs, hundreds of websites, and TV news channels who were sharing the exact same news as everyone else. Really, how many cooks does it take?

5. I continued maintaining a daily routine of school drops and pickups, shopping, visiting with friends and family (who also thought I was a big dork), checking email, cooking, shopping, reading non-newspapers, chatting on the phone, volunteering at school. Surprisingly, nothing is revealed in any of these public spheres. Are people too tired to talk about it? Too wary of expressing unwelcome opinions?

How I Found Out:

Every Sunday for the past several years, I have visited the PostSecret (mature content warning) blog. Today was no exception. I should have known better, but I truly didn’t think that anyone would slap together a postcard so quickly regarding Obama and send it off for Frank to post.

In the middle of this week’s pack of confessions, I read this:

November 4th will forever be the BEST DAY OF MY LIFE..Barack Obama is our 44th President and I finally caught my cheating/abusive boyfriend red-handed.

My first thought was a mental shrug. It seemed so anti-climactic. I wasn’t surprised, exhilerated, annoyed. It was just a new important fact in my life, completely unclouded by media spin, editorial opinion, or images of celebrations or tears. It was just a fact, stark and alone like the lowercase N, standing on a hill.

I am forever grateful for my little whim. It taught me that I can separate myself from the noise and din of what is an organism, an animal.

Congratulations to Barack Obama on becoming our new President. I am proud to live in times like these, and I wish him the best as he takes on the biggest job in the world. Have at it!

My second thought went back to the creator of the post card. I wonder if McCain had won, would she have written this?

November 4th will forever be the WORST DAY OF MY LIFE..John McCain is our 44th President and I finally caught my cheating/abusive boyfriend red-handed.

It’s over. It was interesting. I got a lot done, too. The kids’ rooms are completely clean and purged of excess toys and obsolete clothing. Our daughters are moved in to their new bedrooms. The summer clothes are clean, folded, packed away. The winter clothes are clean, folded, in drawers. We have a ton of stuff to give away to Goodwill. I cooked from scratch every night, helped Aidan with a big fundraising project, wrote several essays, took a zillion pictures. I clipped coupons, made lists regarding the holidays, went to bed at a healthy time, and otherwise enjoyed self-imposed time off from the ‘sphere just when I needed it most.

I couldn’t have done it without being a dork.