Politics has become something of a Whose Line Is It Anyway episode.  Everything’s made up and the points don’t matter.  Or rather, the crises are made up and everyone behaves like the issues don’t actually matter.  The debt ceiling, the fiscal cliff, the sequestration, the government shutdown – is it all one desperate attempt to stay relevant?

I have an idea:  What if we all collectively agreed to stop paying attention to their invented political melodramas?  What if news stations realized we were not watching anymore?  What if we stopped tweeting our frustrations and feeding their insatiable hunger for attention?

Would they eventually realize that no one is listening?

Here are seven things more important than talking about the government shutdown.  Apply liberally to shutdown over-coverage.  Repeat in the event of another crisis.

1.  The 20,000+ children who will die tomorrow of hunger.  We have enough food in the world for every person to eat more than enough.  Here are some fun ways to engage that don’t involve looking at John Boehner’s bright-orange face:

• Take quizzes that automatically donate rice to the U.N. World Food Programme.
• Organize a 30 Hour Famine and raise money for hungry children.
• Give a Christmas present through Heifer International instead of buying your dad that coffee mug.

2.  Your calling.  You are here for a purpose.  You have a talent.  You have a passion.  You are meant to contribute something to the world, and every minute spent watching CNN is another minute your neurons could have been synapsing new ideas all over the place.  Clearly, neuroscience is not my calling.

3.  Every TED talk, ever.  For real, if you are not on the TED train yet, hop on.  It’s like Muscle Milk for your brain.

4.  Nature.  It’s green, it’s breathtaking, and it will always surprise you.  As Daniel Quinn writes, “You can’t watch a sunset and then go off and set fire to your neighbor’s tee-pee.”  Speaking of which, do you think Congress has windows?

5.  Your neighborhood.  Sometimes I forget that other people live outside my front door.  Go meet one of your neighbors.  I bet they’re interesting.  Bonus points if you find someone who looks different from you.

6.  Science.  Speaking of TED talks, have you seen what science is up to these days?  Check out this explanation of how science opens our eyes to wonder.

7.  Every person affected by the Government Shutdown.  Congress is playing with people’s lives.  And guess what?  They just don’t care.  The shutdown is a bargaining chip for the political negotiating table.  Who do you know who has been affected?  Give them a hug, buy them a beer, and then tell your representative to give it a rest.