The Van Winkle Project - an Unattainable Goal

The thought of completely disconnecting one’s self from outside new is quite daunting. However, Birdie decided that he would do so for one whole year starting September 11, 2010 until September 11, 2011. His inspiration for this came from Washington Irving’s short story “Rip Van Winkle,” where a man goes to the woods where he sleeps for 20 years and returns to see the society he knew to be completely different. In present day, Birdie decides to ignore the news for a year because he describes himself as being addicted to the news. Rip went into a physical slumber and Birdie’s plan is to go into a slumber to the outside commotion. Although the idea behind Birdie’s plan is legitimate, it is almost impossible to pull off. In today’s world one is constantly surrounded by news. Although he says that he will look away from headlines on magazines and newspapers, it is impossible to do so. Without trying one will get news from posters around you or covers – it is unavoidable and not realistic that one will not see these. Even though Birdie’s plan to ignore all news for a year, it is impossible to do so unless coincided with physical isolation as well.