by
Mark Jimenez
Put down the Feed, Get on your Feet
On September 10, 2025, I saw a news alert pop up on my phone that said Charlie Kirk and been shot.
I’ll be honest, I didn’t know who Charlie Kirk was. The name didn’t ring a bell and I went about my day for the next couple of hours until social media came alive with the news that he had died.
Then I couldn’t avoid what was happening. Whether I wanted to or not, I learned all about Charlie Kirk, his organization Turning Point USA, and what he stood for. While scrolling through social media that same day I was inadvertently subjected to the violent video of his death that I will not ever be able to get out of my head.
For the next 3 or 4 days I got caught up in an horrible cycle of being glued to the TV for news updates while they searched for the killer, following social media updates, and generally spiraling into an echo chamber that had me becoming more and more anxious, nervous, and unhealthy. The right was attacking the left. The left was attacking the right. Free speech was under attack, and for a few days there it felt like this was the spark that might ignite something horrible. I was scared.
If you’re reading this hoping that I will go on some political diatribe then I’m going to disappoint you. On the matter of Charlie Kirk I will say this: Nobody should be assassinated for talking about their beliefs.
This is a blog about a realization that I had after this heinous event, however. I realized that social media and cable news have allowed us to enter an echo chamber that we never get out of. We search for news/organizations/people that echo our own feelings and beliefs and we hang onto them. We don’t engage in discourse or conversation. We yell louder and louder because the loudest person in the room has to be right. We dehumanize anybody with an opinion that isn’t the same as ours, making it easier to hate them.
This cycle needs to stop. If it doesn’t stop it’s going to end horribly wrong for our country.
That’s when “Put down the Feed, Get on your Feet” came into my head. I realized that I could spend another 60 minutes scrolling through TikTok or Instagram and be no better off. What would I gain? More anxiety? I decided then that I needed to put my phone down and go for a run.
Let’s face it, the news hasn’t reported the news since Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, and Peter Jennings were on the nightly news. Now it’s just entertainment. They don’t report the news, they tell a story that they know will keep you watching. It’s about ratings, it’s not about the truth. And nothing makes ratings like keeping people angry.
Network News Anchors of Yesterday
So turn off the cable news or put your phone down and pick up a pair of shoes. Get outside. Even if it’s just a 15 minute walk around your block, I promise that you will feel better. Waive to a neighbor you’ve never met before. Talk to the lady who is out walking her dog. Take a look at the birds moving through the trees. Your body and mind will thank you.
We’re not going to change anybody’s mind by yelling at them, let alone by watching another reel. We can make a positive change by getting out and moving our body.
I encourage all of you to put down the feed and get on your feet.
Every Run is a Good Run.