The Bliss of Ignorance

I know that "knowledge is power" and that learning all that I can about the world around me is a good thing, but sometimes it would be so much simpler to remain ignorant to certain things. I have started cloth diapering with my second child and with this brave new (for me) world came a whole new culture as well. I belong to a cloth diapering forum that also has many other forums associated with it, many involving natural living. I try and stay away from some topics on there now because of the worry they give me. Circumcision, immunizations, disposable diapers, household chemicals, non-organic food, and plastics all have now added anxiety causing dimensions added to them in my mind because of my never ending curiosity and that darn forum. If I could have just stayed away. I am still making most of the same decisions about these topics I was before, but now I am more informed and less sure of myself in making my decisions.

Plastics come to the forefront of my thoughts often when I think about things I wish I had learned less about. I am talking particularly about the use of plastic in food storage containers and dinnerware. Part of the problem is that no one has any definitive proof that they are harmful, but there is much speculation. I never thought about chemicals leaching from plastic into my food before. Now I worry that I am destroying my children's brain cells by letting them drink from plastic cups. Instead of having a 200 IQ they might only have a 190 now. Don't worry, I am not too concerned. I don't lie awake at night because of the evil plastics in my house, but I do wish I had the money to buy more glass and other safe containers. And I wish that other types of containers were more convenient and readily available. The problem is I have too much plastic and not enough money to replace it all. And my son love's cartoon characters, and they don't make many glass dishes with cartoon characters.

See, this is a whole lot of thinking I could have spent on something else if I would have just remained ignorant to the whole subject. So much (read maybe an hour's worth) concern that could have been prevented or redirected on a more pressing subject. I love learning, but perhaps there is such a thing as learning to much? Or maybe not. I will not stop learning and reading about things I can't change at the moment, but at least I will know how I will change them if I ever can. I just wish I had learned some things a little later.