Could What You Watch Be Stealing Your Peace?

A few years ago, if you'd asked me what had the biggest impact on my health, I would probably have talked about food.

I'd tell you about eating real food, avoiding ultra-processed products and making better choices. Like many people, I'd come to understand that what we feed our bodies matters. If we constantly fill ourselves with foods that offer little nutrition, we can't expect to feel our best.

That all seems fairly obvious.

But one day I found myself asking a question I'd never really considered before.

Close-up view of a serene nature scene with a flowing stream

If I'm so careful about what I feed my body, why wasn't I giving the same thought to what I was feeding my mind?

It wasn't a question I'd ever heard anyone ask, but once I'd thought about it, I couldn't ignore it.

For a season, Simon and I watched a lot of true crime documentaries. Like millions of other people, we found the stories fascinating. We'd often finish one programme and immediately start another, and sometimes I'd even find myself researching the people afterwards. Where were they now? Had they changed? What happened to them after prison?

At first, I didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

It was just entertainment.

Or so I thought.

Over time, though, I began to notice something.

After watching these programmes, I didn't feel uplifted or encouraged. I felt heavy. I started having uncomfortable dreams, and I realised I was giving far too much of my mental energy to the darkest parts of humanity. I already knew the world contained evil, but these programmes kept my mind fixed on it. Instead of dwelling on what was good, hopeful and life-giving, I was spending my evenings filling my thoughts with murder, fear and violence.

It slowly robbed me of my peace.

What surprised me most wasn't just how I felt while watching them, but how much space they continued to occupy afterwards. I'd find myself thinking about people I'd never meet, crimes that had nothing to do with my own life and situations I had absolutely no control over. I was investing my thoughts and emotions into stories that weren't making me a better wife, a better mum or a better follower of Jesus. They weren't helping me grow; they were simply filling my mind.

One evening Simon and I looked at each other and said, "These programmes are just too depressing."

So we stopped watching them. Not because someone told us we couldn't. Not because I think anyone who watches true crime is doing something wrong. We stopped because we recognised what it was doing to us. That simple decision led me to ask a much bigger question.

What else am I feeding my mind every single day without stopping to think about the effect it's having?

As I've grown in my Christian faith, I've become increasingly amazed by how practical the Bible is. Before becoming a Christian, I assumed it was mainly about history, prophecy and what happens after we die. While those things certainly matter, I've discovered that it's also a guide for everyday life. It speaks into our relationships, our work, our worries, our habits and even the thoughts we choose to dwell on.

One passage, in particular, has stayed with me.

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."Philippians 4:8

For years I read those words without really stopping to consider them.

Now I find myself asking a very different question.

What am I actually thinking about every day?

Because if I spend hours consuming fear, violence, gossip and conflict, should I really be surprised if those things begin to shape the way I see the world?

The more I thought about it, the more I realised this wasn't just about true crime documentaries. It's about social media, the endless scrolling, the twenty-four-hour news cycle, the constant stream of outrage, the celebrity gossip, the arguments. The endless noise that fills every spare moment if we let it. I'm not suggesting we all throw our televisions away or delete every social media account. That's not really the point.

The question I've been asking myself is much simpler than that.

Is what I'm allowing into my mind helping me become the person I want to be?

Does it leave me feeling hopeful?

Does it encourage me to love people more?

Does it bring peace into my home?

Does it draw me closer to God?

Or does it leave me feeling fearful, cynical and emotionally drained?

I've realised that protecting my peace isn't just about taking time away from work or finding opportunities to rest. It's also about being intentional with what I allow into my mind each day. Just as I've become more careful about what I feed my body, I've become more careful about what I feed my thoughts.

The more I've read the Bible, the more I've realised that God cares deeply about our minds. He knows that what we repeatedly dwell on will shape the way we see the world, the way we treat other people and ultimately the kind of life we live. That isn't just a spiritual principle; it's incredibly practical.

I'm not writing this because I think everyone should stop watching the same programmes I stopped watching. This article isn't really about true crime. It's about becoming aware of what we're allowing to influence us. We spend a great deal of time thinking about the food we eat, yet rarely stop to ask whether the things we're watching, reading and listening to are helping us become more peaceful, more hopeful and more like the people God is calling us to be.

That question has changed the way I live. It's also one of the reasons I've started this website. Over the coming months I'll be exploring questions just like this, about faith, family, food, entertainment and the everyday choices that quietly shape our lives. My hope isn't to tell you what to think. It's simply to encourage you to pause long enough to ask whether the way we're living is leading us towards the peace we're all searching for.

So I'll leave you with the same question I've been asking myself.

If we're careful about what we feed our bodies, shouldn't we be just as careful about what we feed our minds?