It's been a long time since my last post. I must admit, I am still watching tv. But lately I've been turning it off a little more frequently. I'm currently taking some classes, and it's been out of sheer necessity if I'm going to get my work done.
However, for a long time now, I've been watching tv when I should have been studying. I've been telling myself it's a stress reducer, a harmless distraction from homework that I'm avoiding. I also tell myself that I'd avoid the homework whether I was watching tv or not, so I might as well watch the tv. But I don' t know that that's really true. I would probably procrastinate, but not for as long as I can procrastinate while that tv's on.
Tonight I switched off the tv, long before bedtime I might add, and I instantly felt a sense of relief. My body suddenly relaxed, just like that. The television was making me tense. The noise and the stupidity and the flashing lights. All of it was irritating me at a very basic level.
The sense of relief I felt reminded me of why I often speak of quitting tv. And it reminded me that I hadn't posted in quite a while. I tell myself I haven't posted on this, or my other website, or emailed some of my old friends, or started learning Spanish, or picked up the guitar, or written a book, because I don't have enough time. What with my classes and everything. But that's not true. I've made time for oodles of television this past year. Hours and hours that could have been better spent doing something real.
But a girl's got to relax -- I can't be working and being productive for all of my waking hours. That's not healthy either! Right?
Well, that is true. Self improvement shouldn't be done at the risk of our health, mental or otherwise. I'm not talking about a rigorous program of self improvement that accounts for every waking moment, with checklists and agendas and timetables. And I'm not talking about working myself to death out of some Protestant belief that idle hands do the devil's work.
I am all for idleness! Lie around in a hammock, stare out the window at the clouds, watch the grass grow, do a crossword while drinking your coffee for an hour, play with the cat, read gossip magazines, light matches and shake them out, over and over. Whatever. Eventually you'll get bored and then it will be time for the next step -- what to do instead of watching tv.
It's hard, I know. The tv is calling you, and it's so easy. Just sink into the couch and click on your favorite show. Ahhh, all your old friends, getting into some new adventure that you haven't seen before. Boy, that's funny. Oh, so dramatic. That's compelling television! Wow!
Yes, but at what cost? We are talking about your life here! Your precious, miraculous life, dribbling away in spurts, with occasional interruptions for a word from our sponsors. Sweet Jebus, it makes me want to cry.
And it's my life too! My life that's being pissed away! And I'm doing it to myself! Me and millions of others like me! So many people in this world pissing large chunks of their life away every day! It's tragic. Worse than tragic -- I think it is making the world as a whole a much worse place to live in.
I wouldn't say that people are losing their souls to television, but I will say that people put their souls on hold when they watch too much tv. And a soul cannot grow while it is on hold.
A bit melodramatic, I realize this, but I really feel that this is true.
Some people say that they only watch good tv, tv with a message, or educational shows, or only well-crafted programs with good acting and a lot of thought behind them. That's all fine and good, but if it's more than a couple hours a week, they are still stunting their own personal growth by sitting there in front of that tv.
No matter how educational a show is, you shouldn't sacrifice hours of your own precious life watching it.
Life is so very precious, even if it's horrible. People often say they watch tv to escape reality, because reality is so awful a lot of the time. I say look life in the face, and say "You suck, life! But I'm going to spend my time seeing how I can make life better, even if it's in the smallest ways."
And my friends, you can't make your life better by watching tv. It will never happen. Everyone can see the truth in that statement.
Turn off your tv today and ask yourself how you can make your own life better, in some small way, tomorrow.
Good night.
